WASHINGTON: The US Department of Homeland Security will terminate deportation protections for thousands of Hondurans and Nicaraguans in the US, according to US government notices posted on Monday, part of a broad effort by President Donald Trump to strip legal status from migrants.
The terminations, effective September 6, would end Temporary Protected Status for an estimated 72,000 Hondurans and 4,000 Nicaraguans who have had access to the legal status since 1999, according to a pair of notices posted online on Monday.
Trump, a Republican, has sought to end temporary legal status for hundreds of thousands of migrants in the US, including some who have lived and worked there legally for decades. The Trump administration argues that deportation protections were overused in the past and that many immigrants no longer merit protections.
Democrats and advocates say that the migrants could be forced to return to dangerous conditions and that US employers depend on their labor.
During his 2017-2021 presidency, Trump sought to end most TPS enrollment, including the designations covering Honduras and Nicaragua, but was blocked by federal courts.
Trump’s trade announcement
Meanwhile, US will make several trade announcements in the next 48 hours, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said within the day, ahead of a US deadline on Wednesday to finalize trade pacts.
“We’ve had a lot of people change their tune in terms of negotiations. So my mailbox was full last night with a lot of new offers, a lot of new proposals,” Bessent said in an interview with CNBC. “So it’s going to be a busy couple of days.”
President Donald Trump said the United States would start delivering tariff letters from 12:00 pm ET (1600 GMT) on Monday.