Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, along with 15 other attorneys general, is challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to end Temporary Protected Status for immigrants from Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua. The group has filed an amicus brief explaining the potential economic and humanitarian impacts of the decision, according to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
The Temporary Protected Status program, created by Congress in 1990, provides protection to immigrants from countries with conflict, disasters, or other difficult conditions. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has begun the process to end Temporary Protected Status protections for about 60,000 people. Many U.S. citizens live with Temporary Protected Status holders—about 68,000 with Honduran, 13,000 with Nicaraguan, and 23,000 with Nepali Temporary Protected Status recipients. These families may face separation and changes in their living situations, as reported by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Attorneys general, including Attorney General Campbell and others from California to the District of Columbia, have requested immediate court-ordered relief to stop the ending of Temporary Protected Status designations. They say that ending Temporary Protected Status will force families to either return to dangerous countries, take U.S. citizen family members to unsafe places, or stay in the U.S. without legal work options and face possible deportation. The coalition represents states with large populations of Temporary Protected Status holders who contribute to their communities and economies, as stated by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
