Preliminary injunction protects TPS recipients from El Salvador, Nicaragua, Haiti, and Sudan
NEW YORK, NY - Today, U.S. District Judge Edward Chen issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration’s decision to terminate the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program for El Salvador, Nicaragua, Sudan, and Haiti. In his decision, Judge Chen specifically noted that “circumstantial evidence of race” seemed to be “a motivating factor” in the Administration’s termination of TPS, and that the series of events leading up to the decision suggest “a pre-determined outcome not based on an objective assessment”.
Steven Choi, Executive Director of the New York Immigration Coalition, issued the following statement:
“Donald Trump wants to punish a quarter of a million immigrants and he doesn’t care how much it will hurt New York in the process. Thankfully, Judge Chen today affirmed that this country is still governed by laws, not racially motivated tweets or rants. We will not rest until these immigrants – who have built their lives here, raising children, buying homes and starting businesses – receive the permanent protection they deserve.”
Judge Chen had previously cited that the administration’s revocation of the program was legally dubious, deeming the decision an unexplained reversal of past administrations’ policies and a reflection of President Trump’s racial bias.
The injunction affects a combined number of 248,000 lawfully-present immigrants, originally from El Salvador, Nicaragua, Sudan, and Haiti - approximately 24,700 of whom reside in New York. Without the injunction, they will be forced to leave the country under the threat of deportation – or risk becoming undocumented.
Judge Chen issued the injunction less than a month before the designated expiration of TPS for Sudan, November 2nd, 2018, in which 1,000 Sudanese nationals would have been affected.
Background
Temporary Protected Status is a designation afforded to nationals of countries experiencing humanitarian crisis such as violent conflict, environmental disasters, or epidemics that would prevent nationals from returning safely. As of today, there are an estimated 325,000 TPS recipients living in the United States, representing ten TPS-designated countries: El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. Over 30,000 TPS recipients reside in New York. Since President Trump assumed office, the Department of Homeland Security has terminated TPS for El Salvador, Haiti, Nepal, Nicaragua and Sudan, all which will expire in the upcoming two years.
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