Termination of immigrants with TPS can affect 300,000 people in US

San Francisco: To end temporary protected status (TPS) for immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Sudan a federal judge in San Francisco closely questioned a government lawyer about the administration of President Donald Trump's decision.

Temporary protected status, or TPS, is granted to people from countries facing upheavals such as natural disasters or civil wars.

Administration of Trump has withdrawn the status, previously in effect for eight to 21 years, for people from the four countries. The terminations will begin at various times between November and next September.

Nine immigrants and five citizen children are asking U.S. District Judge Edward Chen for a preliminary injunction blocking the termination. Chen took the request under consideration, but said, "I understand the urgency of resolving" the case soon.

The judge speaking of a private memo in which former Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke wrote that ending the TPS program for these countries "is the result of an America first view of the TPS decision."

Kirschner said that Duke's comment indicated "a general kind of perspective" for the acting secretary, but maintained that she made the decision herself, as authorized by the law providing the TPS program.

Lawyers for the immigrants claim the Trump administration pressured Duke to decide on the termination and that it was motivated by racism toward immigrants from the four countries.

"The racial identity of the program is a motivating factor," American Civil Liberties Union attorney Ahilan Arulanantham told Chen.

The immigrants' civil rights lawsuit, filed in March, claims the administration's action denied them equal treatment and due process. Their lawyers obtained Duke's memo while gathering evidence for today's hearing.

Chen's questions during the hearing also seemed to favor a second argument in which the plaintiffs claim the administration's action violated the federal Administrative Procedure Act by making a substantial policy change without providing a reasoned explanation.

The termination could affect up to 300,000 people now living in the United States, most of whom are from Haiti and El Salvador. But she said some may be eligible to apply for other types of deportation protection, such as asylum status.

The immigrants have a total of 200,000 citizen children, according to the lawsuit, which claims they would be unfairly forced to choose between their right to remain in the country and their right to be raised by their parents.

If Chen grants a preliminary injunction, it would remain in effect until a full trial is held on the lawsuit. One factor a judge must consider when evaluating an injunction request is balancing the potential hardships for the two sides while awaiting a final resolution in a trial.

Government lawyers contend that any harms are "inherent in the temporary nature of TPS status," and that an injunction would "frustrate and displace" the homeland security secretary's judgment.