U.S. District Judge Edward Chen has rejected the Trump administration’s request to deny a lawsuit that will allow more than 200,000 people to sue the government for ending their temporary protected status. Former residents of El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Sudan claim the decision to deport was caused, in part, by the president’s racism, which they attribute to his comment about why we let so many people into the U.S. from “s-hole countries.”
However, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claims to have made the decision because the dangers that sent refugees from these countries – earthquakes in El Salvador and Haiti, the hurricane in Nicaragua, and a civil war in Sudan – have ended.
Protected Status
The 1990 federal law provided temporary protected status to those fleeing from disasters in their homelands and allowed them to live and work in the U.S. under an 18-month renewable permit. The Trump administration argued that the deportation of Haiti, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Sudan nationals was the decision of DHS and its secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen.
However, the plaintiffs argue that the decision by Nielsen was likely encouraged or at least influenced by Trump’s “racist remarks.” As reported in the San Francisco Chronicle, Judge Chen said:
President Trump made statements which a reasonable observer could construe as evidence of racial bias animus against non-white immigrants, and that he therefore influenced and tainted DHS’s decision-making process.
Temporary status, however, does not mean permanent. If it did, it would be called permanent status – or citizenship. Trump’s efforts on immigration control are swift and strong, as they should be. He knows we cannot allow ourselves to become soft while we fight to gain control over our own country. He may not be the smoothest talker, but his tough policies are the bedrock of reclaiming control of our nation’s borders.
In the time the nationals have been here, have they attempted to gain legal status? If not, how long did they plan to stay here at the generosity of our taxpayers? Indefinitely? DHS is doing what it needs to do to help in the immigration control effort. It may not be a popular action, but it is a necessary one.
Immigration control, travel bans, and other efforts are nothing new. They have been a part of our laws for decades. The difference now is that our president is actually enforcing these laws. Former presidents have given their powerful speeches and signed legislation to get the votes, but when it comes down to doing the actual dirty work and seeing the laws carried out, that took our current president – despite hostile opposition.
This is only the beginning, folks. Now other lawsuits from citizens of Nepal and Honduras are being considered. But we all know this isn’t just because of Trump’s s-hole remark. If he had not made such a statement, the left would still blame him because of his immigration control efforts.
