Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin got into verbal fisticuffs with “State of the Union” host Jake Tapper on the topic of Temporary Protected Status for Haitian and Syrian migrants. The Supreme Court sided with the Trump administration in a recent 6-3 decision that allows DHS to bring TPS to an end as it concerns migrants from Haiti and Syria.
During the interview, Tapper asked Mullin if that meant over 350,000 people from those two countries would then be deported back to where they came from. “[F]irst of all, Temporary Protective Status was never intended to be permanent,” Mullin said to Tapper. “And there’s a lot of people that came over here 15, 20 years ago underneath TPS that’s [sic] already changed their status.”
“The whole time these individuals have been here underneath the Temporary Protected Status, they could have applied for a visa. They could have applied for LPR [Lawful Permanent Resident status]. They could have applied for different directions. But the status itself can be ended in its name itself by saying ‘Temporary,'” Mullin explained.
“So, these individuals have a couple of choices: they can try to apply for a permanent residence here, they can apply for a temporary visa if they choose to, or they can choose to go back,” Mullin added, according to a report from The Daily Caller. “And if they want to go back, we will help them with that.” President George H.W. Bush originally signed the Immigration Act of 1990 into law, bringing TPS into existence in November 1990.
The program was intended to provide help for illegal aliens who were facing dangerous living conditions due to war or natural disasters should they be deported back home. Tapper, seemingly confused by all of this, continued to press Mullin over the end of the protections for these two groups of individuals. The secretary once again explained TPS in plain English.
“If I was talking directly to the individuals with the Temporary Protected Status: either try to fill out the paperwork and be here underneath a permanent status, or we will help you get back to your country,” Mullin told Tapper. “We will actually give you a plane ticket, plus roughly $2,100, to help you re-establish when you get there. But Temporary Protected Status, according to the courts and in its name itself, is not permanent status.”
He then told Tapper that those filing for permanent residency in the U.S. could not have any felony charges or be on social programs. President Donald Trump and his administration have been involved in several major legal battles over ending the TPS program. The USCIS website lists eight injunctions from federal district court judges in Democratic states including Massachusetts, California, and Illinois.
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As of this writing, there are illegal immigrants from twelve countries that are protected from being deported under TPS. Comments on the story were mostly supportive of ending the program. “Non-assimilating, lazy, criminal Haitians should be sent back to their own little paradise. They steal our healthcare and housing — and what do we get? More crime, more murder, more billions of our tax dollars WASTED on these thugs,” one individual wrote.
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video