“Sending innocent families back into danger won’t secure our border or make America safer,” said Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto.
The Trump administration announced Monday it will revoke Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for more than 70,000 immigrants from Honduras and Nicaragua, ending legal protections that have allowed them to live and work in the U.S. since the late 1990s.
The Department of Homeland Security said TPS designations for both countries will end in early September, exposing 72,000 Hondurans and 4,000 Nicaraguans to potential deportation unless they secure other legal status.
TPS was granted after Hurricane Mitch devastated Central America in 1998. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stated the protections are “no longer warranted” as conditions have “improved significantly.”
“Temporary Protected Status, as the name itself makes clear, is an inherently temporary status,” the termination notice read.
Senator Catherine Cortez Masto criticized the decision, saying: “These families have been here since the 1990s… Sending innocent families back into danger won’t secure our border or make America safer.”
The move is part of Trump’s broader effort to roll back humanitarian immigration programs.