DHS Begins Deportations After Court Ends TPS for 13 Nations

The Department of Homeland Security has begun the removal of more than one million foreign nationals following an August 18 court ruling that ended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 13 nationalities. The affected group includes citizens of Haiti, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Cameroon, Nepal, Honduras, Nicaragua, Venezuela, South Sudan, Burma, Somalia, and Ethiopia. The first deportation flight, carrying over 160 individuals to Haiti, departed on August 20.

Federal authorities are urging affected individuals to self-deport in exchange for a free flight and a $2,600 payment. The agency asserts that TPS had been used as a de facto amnesty program and that those with terminated status are now in the United States illegally. Approximately 170,000 Salvadorans are also scheduled to lose their protections on September 9.

Legal challenges regarding procedural failures and bare animus continue in lower courts, but the Supreme Court of the United States previously ruled that federal judges lack the authority to review TPS determinations. In response to the removals, New York Governor Kathy Hochul urged the reinstatement of the status to prevent economic damage to the state workforce, characterizing the White House's actions as reckless and inhumane.