TPS' slow bleed leaves thousands in limbo

The Trump administration has moved to end Temporary Protected Status for an estimated million-plus people — with expiration dates looming for thousands of others. The big picture: Tens of thousands who have lost their status or are bracing to lose it have lived in the country legally for upward of a decade, meaning communities could lose longtime members and employers could lose skilled workers. "These individuals .. have families, and they're either the breadwinners or they're part of a ... team of breadwinners trying to sustain themselves in this economy," says Lucia Gomez, a national immigration and worker rights coordinator with the Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA). Driving the news: The Trump administration, bolstered by a June Supreme Court decision that green-lit ending protections for Syrian and Haitian TPS holders, has gutted protections. Judges have since cleared the way for the administration to strip protections, including a federal judge who lifted his stay blocking terminations for Ethiopians on Tuesday. "The administration's target on the TPS program is very clear," says Jose Palma, a coordinator with the National TPS Alliance. What's next: For others — including some 170,000 people from El Salvador and 101,000 from Ukraine — the expiration date for their TPS status looms. Those existing designations may be automatically extended like they were for Lebanon in May, says Julia Gelatt, Associate Director of the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute's U.S. Immigration Policy Program. But there's no guarantee. Those determinations depend on the DHS secretary's review of conditions in each country. A DHS spokesperson didn't answer about the agency's plans for those designations. For Palma, the impact is personal: A TPS holder from El Salvador, he moved to the U.S. at 22, delivered milk to make his way through school and now has four U.S. citizen children. "TPS is more than just a specific paper: it is a key to opportunities and a motivation to work hard for those dreams," Palma says. Zoom out: The terminations are straining industries, with the loss of Haitian workers hitting home-care services and nursing homes particularly hard. Some 152,000 Salvadoran TPS holders are in the workforce, with many in construction and building, according to data from FWD.us and the National TPS alliance. "We are hoping for a miracle from this administration," says Hugo Carballo, the secretary of the DMV-based LIUNA Local 11. What they're saying: A DHS spokesperson slammed the "assertion that the only way we can support the health care, construction, logistics, and restaurant industries" is by allowing TPS holders to remain as "grossly false and lazy." They argued that "TPS has been allowed to function as a de facto amnesty program." "The Trump administration is restoring TPS to its original purpose: Temporary," White House spokesperson Lauren Bis said. "...This program that has been exploited and hurt American workers for years. President Trump will continue growing our economy, creating opportunity for American workers, and ensuring relevant sectors have the legal workforce they need to be successful." TPS does not lead to permanent resident status, and for many, applying for asylum "may be the only option," Gelatt explains. The bottom line: Palma acknowledges that TPS is technically a "temporary" program — though it's allowed families and careers to grow in the U.S. for decades. "It is a moral question for the United States: After allowing a family to get built in the United States for 25, 27 years ... you're just gonna kick them out?" he says. "These are American families." Go deeper: Activists push for bill to help Venezuelan, Haitian TPS holders facing deportation

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