Rights groups demand Temporary Protective Status for refugees from hurricane-ravaged countries

Washington, November 22 (RHC)-- Immigration rights advocates are demanding Temporary Protective Status -- known as TPS -- for refugees from Central American nations devastated by Hurricanes Eta and Iota.  The climate-crisis-fueled, back-to-back hurricanes impacted millions, leaving a path of destruction that killed at least 170 people. 

 A spokesperson for the National TPS Alliance said: “There are no shelters for people to go, roads are underwater, hundreds of thousands are displaced.  This is what TPS was created for.”  A federal court in September sided with the Trump administration in its efforts to end TPS for several countries including Nicaragua and El Salvador, affecting hundreds of thousands of people living in the U.S.

In related news, a federal court has blocked the Trump administration from deporting unaccompanied migrant children under a policy that allowed immigration officials to quickly deport asylum seekers arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border without due process, citing COVID-19.  Some 13,000 unaccompanied children have been deported during the pandemic.

This comes as immigration rights advocates are demanding the release of 28 children and their families who were placed in expedited deportation proceedings by ICE.  Advocates say the families’ initial asylum pleas were botched by officials, resulting in the rejection of their credible fear claims.