With Temporary Protected Status Set To End, Nicaraguans Contemplate Future in the U.S.
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On Monday, about 2,500 Nicaraguans in the U.S. with Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, learned that their immigration status will no longer be extended.
It’s a program that Congress created in 1990 to provide time-limited permission for foreigners fleeing war, catastrophes, and natural disasters. Currently there are 320,000 immigrants from 10 countries living in the US with TPS.
Officials from the Department of Homeland Security announced that Nicaraguans will have until January 5, 2019, to either adjust their immigration status, or leave the country. And over 100,000 immigrants from Haiti and Honduras with TPS are expected to learn their fate in the coming weeks.
Fernanda Martinez is an 18-year-old college freshman at Susquehanna University, whose parents are Nicaraguan with Temporary Protected Status. Both of Fernanda Martinez’s parents came to the US in 1998 after a hurricane and received TPS. They’ve been in the U.S. since, raising their family in New Jersey. Now, their future in the U.S. is uncertain.
Elora Mukherjee, professor and director of the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at Columbia Law, joins The Takeaway to discuss Martinez's story, the history of TPS, and the Trump administration's mixed decisions with the program.
This episode is hosted by Todd Zwillich.
