2,500 Nicaraguans Told to Leave U.S.

The Department of Homeland Security has ordered the 2,500 Nicaraguans currently residing in the US under Temporary Protected Status (TPS) that they must leave by January 5, 2019.




According to the Nov. 6 Press Release the decision to was made...

"...after a review of the conditions upon which the country’s original 1999 designation were based and whether those substantial but temporary conditions prevented Nicaragua from adequately handling the return of their nationals, as required by statute. There was also no request made by the Nicaraguan government to extend the current TPS status. Based on all available information, including recommendations received as part of an inter-agency consultation process, Acting Secretary Duke determined that those substantial but temporary conditions caused in Nicaragua by Hurricane Mitch no longer exist, and thus, under the applicable statute, the current TPS designation must be terminated."

 It should be noted that the end of this special status had been coming for a while and those under the TPS have known this status was always meant to be temporary since it was designated in 1999.

"To allow for an orderly transition, the effective date of the termination of TPS for Nicaragua will be delayed 12 months.  This will provide time for individuals with TPS to seek an alternative lawful immigration status in the United States, if eligible, or, if necessary, arrange for their departure. It will also provide time for Nicaragua to prepare for the return and reintegration of their citizens. TPS for Nicaragua will terminate on January 5, 2019."

Despite the fact that temporary status was known to eventually run out of extensions, being told to leave the country after almost twenty years of making a life for yourself and raising a family here must feel like some kind of betrayal.

The original 1999 TPS designation also included a much larger population of Honduran refugees, 57,000, for which the DHS has concluded to extend TPS status for another 6 months in order to collect more information.

"Regarding Honduras, Acting Secretary Duke concluded that despite receiving input from a broad spectrum of sources, additional time is necessary to obtain and assess supplemental information pertaining to country conditions in Honduras in order to make an appropriately deliberative TPS designation determination.  Based on the lack of definitive information regarding conditions on the ground compared to pre-Hurricane Mitch, the Acting Secretary has not made a determination at this time, thereby automatically extending the current TPS designation for Honduras for six months – through July 5, 2018."

However, the DHS explains that "given the information currently available to the Acting Secretary, it is possible that the TPS designation for Honduras will be terminated at the end of the six-month automatic extension with an appropriate delay."

So it is possible that before next summer another 57,000 Hispanics will be given orders to leave the country by 2020 or 2021.