The fate of millions of immigrants hangs in the balance as President-elect Donald Trump vows to scale back Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a program that allows people from 17 countries, including Haiti, Afghanistan, Sudan, and Lebanon, to stay and work in the US if their homelands are deemed unsafe.
Currently, 7.7 million people are displaced due to political violence and economic turmoil in Venezuela - one of the biggest displacements worldwide. In Haiti and El Salvador, people are facing widespread gang violence, instability and economic hardships.
TPS currently protects over 1 million immigrants from these 17 countries. Designations for El Salvador, Sudan, Ukraine, and Venezuela are set to expire in March and April, respectively.
Established in 1990, TPS initially protected Salvadorans from civil war. Since then, designations have been extended to various countries facing conflicts, natural disasters, or extraordinary conditions. A designation does not guarantee permanent residency in the United States, however, applicants can try to change their status through various other immigration processes.
Trump's plans to stop mass parole and grants of TPS have sparked anxiety among beneficiaries. Vania Andre, editor-in-chief of The Haitian Times, emphasises that Haiti cannot absorb the return of thousands of people, given its existing widespread gang violence. Attorney Ahilan T. Arulanantham warns that stripping employment authorisation from TPS holders could be economically disastrous.
According to AP, Maribel Hidalgo's journey to the United States was nothing short of perilous. She fled Venezuela with her one-year-old son, traversing Panama's Darien Gap and Mexico, only to find solace in the US when the Biden administration granted Venezuelans TPS.
However, with President-elect Donald Trump vowing to scale back TPS, Hidalgo's future hangs in the balance. In October, JD Vance said "We're going to stop doing mass grants of Temporary Protected Status" in an Arizona rally.
"My only hope was TPS. My worry, for example, is that after everything I suffered with my son so that I could make it to this country, that they send me back again", Hidalgo said.
Advocates urge the White House to renew and expand TPS protections, particularly for Nicaraguans fleeing oppression. Maria Bilbao of the American Friends Service Committee calls it a "moral obligation" for the Biden administration to act. Elena, a 46-year-old Nicaraguan living in the US illegally for 25 years, hopes Biden moves quickly, fearing deportation.
Will the Biden administration act to protect them, or will Trump's promises of mass deportations become a harsh reality? Only time will tell.
