DHS decision to end Haitian immigrant protections questioned
By: Tal Kopan, CNN
Newly released internal documents are raising questions about the Trump administration’s decision to end protections for tens of thousands of Haitian immigrants — and whether the argument that the protections were no longer merited was valid.
Under President Donald Trump, the Department of Homeland Security has been aggressive in ending a number of temporary protected status designations that have been on the books, in some cases, for decades.
Roughly 300,000 people who have lived in the US with legal permission, most of whom have been here for upward of 15-20 years, could have their status pulled in the coming months as the protections expire. In the case of Haiti, nearly 60,000 immigrants are set to see their status expire next year.
The justification from the administration for ending the protections has been that by law, when the conditions from the original disaster that triggered the protections have improved, they must expire. DHS has been clear that it does not believe it can look at the totality of conditions in the country to factor in its decision making.
But the documents released Tuesday as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit raise questions about whether DHS was accurately interpreting information in drawing those conclusions.
The documents suggest DHS contradicted its own staff assessment of Haiti when it opted to end TPS for the country, which was put in place after the devastating 2010 earthquake. The documents also include email correspondence showing Haiti’s deep concern about ending TPS for the country.
While many of the documents are redacted, the release includes a report prepared by staff about the conditions in Haiti, which was included as part of a recommendation by the director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
More: http://www.cnn.com/2018/04/17/politics/haiti-tps-documents-questions/index.html
And SCOTUS coverage here:http://www.cnn.com/2018/04/17/politics/supreme-court-federal-law-deportation-immigrants/index.html
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It’s no surprise that Trump Administration immigration policies are based on racial animus and White Nationalism and that they often fly in the face of known conditions in foreign countries. That’s what bias and congenital dishonesty are all about.
Haitian immigrants, who have made great contributions to the United States, have been singled out for poor treatment by past Administrations of both parties. But, they have persevered in the face of adversity both at home and abroad.
Not sure what the remedy would be here even if bias could be proved. The legislation creating TPS status makes country designations or non-designations matters committed to Executive discretion without any judicial review.
So the remedy is probably the same as for most of the Trump Administration’s unlawful and immoral acts: removal of the Administration and its GOP enablers at the ballot box. Even if that eventually happens, it’s not clear whether it will be soon enough to save Haitians in TPS status.
On the other hand, since most of the Haitians in TPS status would be entitled to full hearings before the Immigration Courts, they probably won’t be ordered out of the country any time soon. But, in some cases they could lose their authorization to work.
PWS
04-18-18
As some of us keep pointing out, FOIA remedies provide helpful tools for pro-immigrant litigants after Congress passed the “Open Government Act of 2008”. Access to the District Courts for equity relief under FOIA seeking improper “motive” evidence for due process claims is the new “habeas corpus”.