Certain things could leave a foreign national staying here in the U.S. concerned about their future in the country. One such thing is an immigration program that provided them with benefits ending. There are a variety of impacts losing such benefits could have. In some instances, they could lead to a person facing deportation in the future.
When an immigrant’s future is thrown up in the air by an immigration program’s end, it is can be very important for them to have a firm understanding of their situation and what they can do in response to losing the program’s benefits. In some instances, there may be alternate routes available for pursuing their immigration aims. So, when facing a loss of U.S. immigration benefits, an immigrant may want to promptly discuss their situation with a knowledgeable immigration lawyer.
Recently, the federal government announced the end of one immigration program: the Temporary Protected Status designation for Nicaragua. This designation allowed certain individuals from Nicaragua living in the U.S. to enjoy the protections of the TPS initiative, including deportation protections. As a result of the decision to terminate Nicaragua’s designation, these individuals will lose these protections in the future, thus raising the possibility of deportation.
Reportedly, there are currently around 2,500 Nicaraguans who have TPS protections.
The designation removal is set to take effect on Jan. 5, 2019.
The government also recently opted to delay deciding the future of Honduras’ TPS designation. The deadlines for decisions on the TPS designations of two other countries, Haiti and El Salvador, will be coming up soon. One wonders if these three decisions will end up going the same way as the one for Nicaragua, or will take a different route.
Source: ABC News, “Trump admin. ending protective immigration status for Nicaraguans, delays decision for Hondurans,” Conor Finnegan and Geneva Sands, Nov. 6, 2017