More than 25 years after Hurricane Mitch ravaged parts of Central America, the Trump administration is moving to end deportation protections for 55,000 migrants who have lived in the U.S. under Temporary Protected Status (TPS) since then.
The migrants, primarily from Nicaragua and Honduras, were granted TPS in 1999 by the Clinton administration after the November 1998 storm devastated their home countries. The designation was repeatedly extended under the Bush, Obama, and Biden administrations, as well as through court rulings.
But on Monday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the program’s termination, stating that both countries have sufficiently recovered and no longer qualify for the special status. “Temporary Protected Status was designed to be just that — temporary,” she said.
As of December, approximately 52,600 Hondurans and 3,000 Nicaraguans were living in the U.S. under Temporary Protected Status (TPS), according to the Congressional Research Service. They are part of a broader group of 1.1 million individuals from 17 countries currently covered by TPS. The vast majority received protections under the Biden administration, which set records for using the program to shield illegal immigrants from deportation.
Under Temporary Protected Status (TPS), migrants are shielded from deportation, granted work permits, issued Social Security numbers, and made eligible for certain taxpayer-funded benefits.
Although the protections are intended to last just 18 months, they can be repeatedly extended. The original purpose of TPS was to give countries facing war, natural disasters, political unrest, or public health emergencies time to stabilize—while offering migrants temporary refuge from unsafe conditions back home, the Washington Times reported.
In reality, TPS has evolved into a de facto secondary immigration system. Many Hondurans and Nicaraguans have now spent nearly 30 years living in the U.S. under its provisions. The Trump administration has also moved to end TPS protections for nationals from Afghanistan, Venezuela, Cameroon, Nepal, and Haiti—affecting roughly 600,000 people in total.
Foreign governments—especially in Central America—favor TPS because it allows their citizens working in the U.S. to send money back home, providing a crucial source of income. According to the latest data, remittances account for 26% of Honduras’ gross domestic product, with the majority coming from the United States.
In Nicaragua, remittances made up about 23% of GDP last year, a sharp increase from 11% just six years ago. Immigrant rights groups have vowed a quick legal challenge, the outlet noted.
