#  Don’t End Temporary Protected Status for Our Immigrant Neighbors

     Details    Jordan Liz   ![logo](https://www.citywatchla.com//templates/ja_teline_v/images/logo.png)         March 02 2026      [  ![](https://www.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Mar-2026/018k.jpg#joomlaImage://local-images/stories/Mar-2026/018k.jpg?width=844&height=566)    ](https://www.citywatchla.com/voices/32340-dont-end-temporary-protected-status-for-our-immigrant-neighbors)

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 TPS -

*The Trump administration is trying to expel lawful immigrants to countries facing political turmoil — while also cutting aid and destabilizing many countries further.*

This February, a panel of conservative [federal judges ruled](https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/9th-circuit-tps-honduras-21343987.php) that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) can move forward with terminating Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for immigrants from Nicaragua, Honduras, and Nepal.

For the over 60,000 immigrants impacted by this decision, this is an incredible loss. As [Jessica Bansal](https://www.nationaltpsalliance.org/breaking-ninth-circuit-court-of-appeals-permits-tps-terminations-for-honduras-nepal-and-nicaragua-to-take-effec/), an attorney with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, writes, the “decision allows mothers, fathers, students, and workers who have lived lawfully in this country for decades to be stripped of status without even acknowledging the devastation caused to them and their families or the contribution they have made to their communities.”

Those impacts will be hard felt in California, which as of last year was [home to nearly 80,000 TPS recipients](https://budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu/p/2025-11-19-550-000-workers-lose-status-by-end-of-2025/) — the fourth most of any state — who contributed $3.6 billion to the state’s economy.

Let’s be clear about what’s happening here: DHS is eliminating [TPS](https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/blog/temporary-protected-status-whats-up-with-that/) for immigrants who are lawfully residing in the United States solely on the basis of their race, ethnicity, and nationality. They are turning documented immigrants into undocumented immigrants, slandering them as “[killers](https://x.com/Sec_Noem/status/1995642101779124476)” and “leeches” simply to create the pretext for more ICE violence.

This is not speculation. Before a judge blocked its termination, [TPS for Haitians](https://media.wbur.org/wp/2026/02/Reyes-Opinion-TPS-Haiti.pdf) was slated to end on February 3. News outlets began reporting in late January that [the Trump administration](https://www.ms.now/news/ohio-ice-immigration-operations-haitians-tps-noem) was planning to launch an operation targeting Haitians in Springfield, Ohio and across the state.

The end of TPS would have set the stage for another brutal Minnesota-style operation.

While [DHS](https://www.wosu.org/2026-02-10/dhs-claims-no-specific-plans-for-springfield-ice-surge-if-tps-for-haitian-had-expired-feb-3) denies that such an operation was planned, the end of TPS would still give federal agents — who are operating under [mandatory arrest quotas](https://www.axios.com/2025/12/04/trump-ice-immigration-arrests-deportations) — an excuse to question any given Black person in Ohio under suspicion that they may be an undocumented Haitian immigrant. After all, President Trump’s [Supreme Court](https://eji.org/news/supreme-court-allows-stops-based-on-race-to-continue/) justices have ruled that immigration enforcement agents can use race as the basis for stopping people.

While the end of TPS for immigrants is particularly dangerous for people of color, as the murders of [Renee Good](https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/08/us/renee-nicole-good-minneapolis-ice-shooting-hnk) and [Alex Pretti](https://www.propublica.org/article/alex-pretti-shooting-cbp-agents-identified-jesus-ochoa-raymundo-gutierrez) make clear, more ICE is bad for everyone.

What’s more, DHS is deporting them to nations — including [Nicaragua](https://hrf.org/latest/nicaragua-escalates-political-repression-remembering-peng-shuai/?gad_campaignid=1597499996), [Honduras](https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/why-is-honduras-presidential-election-turmoil-weeks-after-voting-2025-12-19/), and [Nepal](https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/02/04/nepal-protests-over-corruption-inequality-and-social-media-ban) — that are currently facing political turmoil.

The [Trump administration](https://forumtogether.org/article/temporary-protected-status-fact-sheet/) has also terminated TPS for people from Venezuela, Afghanistan, Cameroon, and Cuba. Since then, the U.S. has invaded [Venezuela](https://www.wlrn.org/immigration/2026-01-09/venezuelan-tps-maduro-deportation-democrats) and kidnapped President Nicolás Maduro. The Trump administration is currently imposing a total blockade on oil imports to [Cuba](https://truthout.org/articles/trumps-fuel-embargo-forces-cuba-to-take-emergency-steps-to-avert-catastrophe/), while threatening retaliatory tariffs on any country that sells oil to the Cuban government. [Afghanistan](https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/12/1166684) and [Cameroon](https://refugees.org/timeline-cameroon-the-anglophone-crisis/) continue to struggle with their own political instability and social upheaval.

In short, none of these countries are in a position to welcome tens of thousands of people.

At the same time that the Trump administration is deliberately manufacturing these humanitarian crises, it is weakening international aid networks. This includes eliminating the U.S. Agency for International Development ([USAID](https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/issues/making-foreign-aid-work/what-do-trumps-proposed-foreign-aid-cuts-mean/)) and withdrawing the U.S. from the [World Health Organization](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn9zznx8qdno), the [UN Human Rights Council](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/03/us-withdraw-un-human-rights-council-trump-00202100), and other organizations.

In their absence, vulnerable countries will be left to fend for themselves — or worse, become the next victim of Trump’s global real estate firm: the deceptively named [Board of Peace](https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2026/1/25/gaza-is-not-a-real-estate-fantasy).

[The Trump administration](https://forumtogether.org/article/temporary-protected-status-fact-sheet/) has attempted and thus far been successfully blocked from ending TPS for people from Ethiopia, Haiti, South Sudan, Burma, and Syria. TPS is currently scheduled to end for Somali, Yemeni, Salvadoran, Sudanese, and Ukrainian nationals in the upcoming months. While judges may rule against some of these efforts, DHS will likely appeal until they find a court that will give them the decision they want.

[TPS](https://www.rescue.org/article/behind-headlines-temporary-protected-status) was specifically designed to aid those in need — its moral and political duty cannot be forfeited to the racist and xenophobic whims of this administration. We must stand with our immigrant neighbors and push our elected officials to put guardrails on DHS’s clear abuse of power.

*(Jordan Liz is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at San José State University. He specializes in issues of race, immigration, and the politics of belonging. This op-ed was distributed by[ OtherWords.org](http://otherwords.org).)*

  - [  Previous Article **From Iran to Venezuela, China to Russia, It's ALWAYS About Oil** ](https://www.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=32342:from-iran-to-venezuela-china-to-russia-its-always-about-oil&catid=375)
- [  Next Article **Standing Resolute Against Tyranny**  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=32338:standing-resolute-against-tyranny&catid=375)
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