President Biden on Friday announced a sweeping suspension of deportation protections for hundreds of thousands of people from Sudan, Ukraine and Venezuela in a move that made it almost impossible for President Donald J. .Trump to withdraw benefits as soon as he takes office.
The extension of Temporary Protection, as the program is called, allows immigrants to stay in the country with a work permit and protection from deportation to another country. 18 months from the expiration date of their current protection in the spring. Last year, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken recommended continued protections in a letter.
For decades, Democratic and Republican leaders have chosen to protect the citizens of countries that are in crisis and are perceived as unsafe to return to. President Biden has expanded who can get the status, as war breaks out in Ukraine and conflicts grip countries like Venezuela and Haiti.
“These options are based on careful and coordinated efforts to ensure that people affected by environmental damage and conflict are protected block their needs while continuing to contribute to our communities,” Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of national security, said in a statement.
Trump has promised to end the program, at least for some countries. Political commentators have urged the Biden administration to continue to visit more countries before he takes office.
In his first term, Mr. Trump terminated the status of approximately 400,000 people from El Salvador and other countries, arguing that the situation has changed and there is no longer any protection. The move was challenged in court and failed, but he is expected to try again during his second term, as part of his pledge to make more exports. .
According to the Congressional Research Service, more than one million immigrants from countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa and the Middle East have temporary protection as of 2024.
The move makes it legally difficult for Trump to withdraw protections for citizens of the four countries, at least until they expire in 2026.
“Because President Biden has extended protection to citizens of all these countries, President Trump will not be able to deport these people any time soon,” said Steve Yale-Loehr, an immigration researcher. of Cornell Law School.
“Trump can’t ignore what Congress wrote into law in the 1990s,” he said.
About 600,000 Venezuelans who are currently protected will be allowed to continue to stay in the United States until October 2026, and about 232,000 immigrants from El Salvador will come Voluntary. More than 100,000 Ukrainians will still be able to live in the United States until October 2026. Some 1,900 people from Sudan will also be allowed to extend their status.
The program was signed into law by President George HW Bush to ensure that foreign nationals who are already in the United States can stay in the country if they are not safe for them return to their country due to natural disasters, war or other crises. .
On the campaign trail, JD Vance, the vice chairman of the campaign, called the job illegal when he criticized the Haitians who had settled in his home state of Ohio and benefited from it. Haiti has experienced political crisis and terrorism, and some 200,000 of its citizens are protected from removal under TPS until early 2026.
“We shouldn’t be making a lot of grants on Temporary Protection,” Mr. Vance said.
Critics have argued that temporary protection has continued and served as a true means of keeping people in the country permanently, contrary to its goal of settlement Short problem.
Although the program has become all but permanent for many immigrants, it also shows how much of a problem the world is and the failure of Congress to pass legislation to reform US immigration to the reality of international migration.
Immigrants from many countries, incl El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, has been eligible for protection for more than two decades. Other countries, such as Ethiopia, Lebanon and Syria have been added recently.
If the status quo is lifted, hundreds of thousands of immigrants will immediately become illegal residents of the United States, unless they leave immediately. Many of them have American-born children, businesses and jobs in jobs that rely on immigrants such as construction, hospitality and healthcare.
In cities like Denver, temporary conditions are allowed thousands of Venezuelanswho arrived in the last two years from the southern border on buses provided by the Republican governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, to work legally there and engage in business.
Mike Johnston, the city’s mayor, said he applauded Biden’s campaign to extend the name.
“In Denver, people with temporary shelters are doing important work, contributing to our economy and becoming valuable members of our community,” he said.
Gonzalo Roa, 43, a Venezuelan who is an heir in Columbus, Ohio, said he was worried about the fate of the project.
Mr. “It’s good news that it’s been renewed,” said Roa, who works at a car dealership and runs a small restaurant with his wife.
If not, Mr. Roa said she will lose her job at the grocery store and her two Venezuelan-born children will not be eligible for college scholarships and other legally mandated benefits. bridge.