Biden Rolls Out Red Carpet For Illegals
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it will grant deportation relief and work permits to over 300,000 immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal until 2025. However, there will be no expansion of the program to include additional individuals, according to the Biden administration.
According to Free Beacon, President Joe Biden’s administration has chosen to maintain the current Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program, rather than implementing a broader expansion that some Democrats and immigrant advocates have called for. These proponents argue that more opportunities are needed for individuals to legally live and work in the United States.
Former President Donald Trump, a Republican known for his tough stance on immigration and a candidate for his party’s 2024 nomination, attempted to terminate TPS for the mentioned countries and others during his time in office. However, his efforts were thwarted by U.S. courts. The Biden administration, composed of Democrats, is now reversing Trump’s previous decisions as part of the process to extend relief for immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal.
TPS permits individuals who cannot return to their home countries due to natural disasters, armed conflicts, or other exceptional circumstances to stay in the United States and obtain work permits. Usually, designations last between six and 18 months but can be renewed indefinitely. Although some TPS designations have been in place for decades, they do not provide a path to permanent U.S. residency.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas stated that the extensions would ensure “ongoing safety and protection” for individuals from those countries who are already eligible for the program.
The recent decision by the Biden administration enables TPS renewals for approximately 239,000 Salvadorans who have been residing in the U.S. since 2001. Approximately 76,000 Hondurans and 4,000 Nicaraguans who have been in the U.S. since 1998 are also eligible, along with 14,500 Nepalese who have been in the country since 2015.
It is important to note that hundreds of thousands of immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua who are living in the U.S. illegally will not be covered by the TPS extension because they arrived after the specified cutoff dates.
Certain Democrats, including New York City Mayor Eric Adams, have urged the Biden administration to expand access to work permits for newly arrived migrants. They argue that this action would alleviate the burden on local governments that receive individuals who have recently crossed the U.S.-Mexico border.
