Judge Temporarily Blocks Termination of Protected Status for Syrians

A federal judge on Nov. 19 temporarily blocked the Trump administration from ending the temporary protected status (TPS) for more than 6,000 Syrians while a legal challenge proceeds.

U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla in Manhattan said terminating the temporary protected status abruptly was likely to be illegal, agreeing with seven Syrian migrants who had sought to block the policy from taking effect on Nov. 21.

She said the government had terminated temporary protected status for hundreds of thousands of immigrants from several countries in a matter of months, suggesting that it is not giving careful consideration in each case as required by federal law.

During a virtual court appearance, the judge also said the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had not followed proper procedures for revoking temporary status, including reviewing conditions in Syria, and that the decision had been improperly influenced by politics.

Failla said in her ruling that she was granting, in part, the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction postponing the federal government’s plan to terminate Temporary Protective Status for Syrians, “pending further order from this Court or a reviewing court.”

More than 6,100 Syrians reside in the United States under the TPS designation. It is a humanitarian designation under U.S. law for migrants from countries stricken by war, natural disaster, or other catastrophes, shielding recipients from deportation and allowing them to work in the United States.

It was first extended to Syrians in 2012 after the country plunged into a civil war that culminated last year with the toppling of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The U.S. Supreme Court last month cleared the way for the Trump administration to revoke temporary status for 600,000 Venezuelan migrants. Other judges are considering challenges to the termination of TPS for people from Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua.

The administration has stated that the program has been overused and that many immigrants no longer merit protection as conditions have improved in their home countries.

Democrats and advocates for the immigrants have said that TPS enrollees could be forced to return to dangerous conditions and that some U.S. employers depend on their labor.

In announcing the elimination of TPS for Syrians, the DHS stated that Syria was a hotbed of terrorism and extremism and that it was contrary to national interests to continue the program as the United States lacked a functioning U.S. diplomatic mission in Damascus. making it impossible to adequately verify each Syrian national’s identity, criminal history, or potential terrorist ties.

Bill Pan and Reuters contributed to this report.