US ends protected immigration status for Nicaraguans

On Monday, the Trump administration said that it was ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for thousands of Nicaraguans living in the US for two or more decades.The US did not make a decision about Honduran nationals and provided little guidance for what might happen to Salvadoran and Haitian nationals. Salvadoran and Honduran officials have been lobbying their US counterparts to extend TPS. They are also in the uncomfortable position of arguing that their countries are in such bad shape that they could not handle the return of thousands of their citizens. However, it is not exactly clear what the Nicaraguan government has been doing.

While the move was expected by many, the Nicaraguans affected still find Monday's announcement shocking, and worry about the prospect of potentially having to return home.

"I am shocked that my government did absolutely nothing to protect us from the elimination of TPS," Bernan Vusto, a TPS holder since 1990, said.

The 50-year-old, who is originally from Leon, Nicaragua and now lives and works in Washington, DC, said there is a job shortage in his home country that would make it difficult and expensive to return. (Al Jazeera)

In its statement, the US explained that "substantial but temporary conditions" that led to TPS for Nicaraguan nationals is no longer needed. Given that there are so few Nicaraguan TPS recipients, the US did not worry about Nicaragua's ability to absorb 2,500 people. As I wrote last week, Nicaragua is in somewhat of a better condition relative to two and three decades ago, and much more so than its neighbors today to make this decision understandable. However, the US also threw a little dig in a Nicaragua in stating that its government didn't even bother to request an extension of the program.

While I doubt that the administration wants to extend TPS to Salvadorans and Hondurans, the fact that conditions on the ground in those two countries are worse than in Nicaragua, that it will be more difficult to absorb larger numbers of nationals to those two countries, and that there are more people in the US and in Central America lobbying for TPS extensions to Salvadorans and Hondurans,are three factors working in favor of a renewal of TPS.