August 4, 2025 • 21 mins
In this episode of One Thing Trump Did, we go over the Trump administrations attempts to revoke Temporary Protected Status from a number of immigrant groups currently living in the United States. Jeremy is joined by CBS immigration reporter Camilo Montoya-Galvez. #tps #immgration #deportation #Trump #Haiti #Venezuala #Honduras #Nicaragua
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:15):
Welcome to One Thing Trump did, available exclusively on the
Middle podcast feed. I'm Jeremy Hobson, and each week on
this show we picked just one thing coming out of
the Trump White House to focus on it and break
it down in a non partisan way with someone who
knows what they are talking about. And today we're talking
about the Trump administration's plans to revoke the temporary Protected
status from a number of immigrants around the United States. Now,
(00:39):
if you are not aware, Temporary Protected Status, or TPS,
is a program that allows nationals of select countries to
come to the United States without the threat of deportation
for a limited time. It was enacted by Congress in
nineteen ninety and less people coming from countries where catastrophic
events like war or famine or natural disasters have occurred
to stay in work in the US. But earlier this year,
(01:02):
the Trump administration announced that it will revoke this status
from several countries Haiti, Venezuela, Afghanistan, Cameroon, Honduras, and Nicaragua.
That affects hundreds of thousands of people, some of whom
have been in this country legally for decades. Here is
the Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Christi Nome talking about
why the administration wants to now send them back.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
This program has been abused and manipulated by the Biden
administration and that will no longer be allowed to allow
that and these extensions going forward the way that they are.
The program was intended to be temporary, and this extension
of over six hundred thousand Venezuelans Venezuelans as well is
(01:44):
alarming when you look at what we've seen in different states,
including Colorado, with gangs doing damage and harming the individuals
and the people that live there.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
Well.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Joining me now is CBS Immigration reporter Camilo Montoya Galvez, Camila,
Welcome to one thing Trump did.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Hello, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Okay, so let's start with the basics for our listeners
who are not familiar. How does TPS work and how
many people are eligible for it at the moment pre
these cancelations by the Trump administration.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Sure So, TPS Temporary Protective Status was created by Congress
back in nineteen ninety and it effectively allows the Department
of Homely in Security to grant certain immigrants a temporary
safe haven in the form of work permits and deportation
protections to people again who come from countries experiencing a
(02:33):
crisis like a war or an environmental disaster that makes
it dangerous to return people to those nations. And under
a Republican and democratic president alike, the Department of Homely
in Security has used that program to grant legal status
to hundreds of thousands of people in the US. It
doesn't actually allow people to come into the US, but
(02:57):
it does grant immigration legal status to people already in
the country living here, sometimes unlawfully or on temporary visas.
And the Bided administration really expanded the scope of TPS
to an unprecedented degree, granting it to people from Venezuela, Haiti, Ukraine, Afghanistan,
and other crisis stricken countries. But the Trump administration, as
(03:20):
part of its immigration crackbound, has really sought to scale
back the use of TPS and has moved to dismantle
TPS programs for a number of countries, including Afghanistan, Cameroon, Nepal, Honduras, Nicaragua, Venezuela,
and Haiti. And that will place hundreds of thousands of
people at risk of deportation if the courts allow these
(03:41):
terminations to take place.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
And when you talk about the Biden administration dramatically expanding it,
they've more than doubled the amount.
Speaker 4 (03:47):
Of people who had access to TPS.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Just the Venezuelans alone is hundreds of thousands of people
in the United States. But the reasons for those protections
being extended to Venezuela, let's talk about them, was quote
a complex humanitarian crisis marked by widespread hunger and malnutrition
in Venezuela, a growing influence and presence of non state
armed groups, repression, and a crumbling infrastructure.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
Has any of that changed in Venezuela in the last
six months.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Well, Venezuela is still in deep political and economic crisis.
That country has seen a massive exodus of millions of
a citizens, not only to the US, but to places
like Columbia, Peru, Brazil, and South America. And the reason
for that exodus has been the repressive government of President
Nicolas Madua, but also the economic collapse of that country.
(04:36):
Over the past decade or so, some conditions have improved
in Venezuela, but the country is still in crisis by
all accounts, and many people are still in exile in
those countries that I mentioned and in the US, But
what the chev administration is arguing in federal court is
that even if conditions in Venezuela and the other countries
(04:58):
that I mentioned are still and in many cases dangerous,
it is not in the national interests of the US
to continue these programs because the administration, Jeremy argues that
these programs incentivize illegal immigration and that they have been
in place for far too long, despite the temporary nature
of again Temporary protective status.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Similarly, Haitians have been given TPS on and off since
twenty ten, and when I look back, it's like every year,
every two years they extended, they extended, then they don't
extend it, then they extended again. There are hundreds of
thousands of Haitians living in the United States because of that,
Are they really all expected to leave?
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Well, that is the Trump administration's position. They are telling
Haitians and the other TPS holders who are set to
lose their deportation protections that they should be self deporting
from the country using a government smartphone app rather that
the administration has created, known as CBP home to register
for self deportation. Otherwise, the administration is warning Haitians and
(06:02):
other TPS holders that they will be found, arrested and
forcibly deported from the country if they remain here unlawfully,
because once they lose that TPS protection, they will become
illegally present in the country and will lose their ability
to work and lift your legally.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Is there rhyme or reason as you can tell to
why certain nationalities are being revoked versus others.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
It's a good question. In the case of Haiti and Venezuela,
the administration says that those programs in particular have incentivized
illegal immigration, and they have cited the very large numbers
of people from those countries that have crossed into the
US illegally, mostly under the Bodied administration, in recent years,
(06:47):
and they have said essentially in court that the Bodied
administration rewarded those people who enter the country illegally by
extending TPS to them and to their countrymen. The case
of Afghanistan is very interesting because by all accounts, conditions
in Afghanistan are still dire. The Taliban has a repressive
(07:11):
record of ruling that country. Many minority groups are still
oppressed in Afghanistan, including women, and conditions in that country
remain really dire. Since the US military withdrawal from that country,
but in court, the administration has argued, jeremy, that it
is still not in the national interest to keep this
(07:31):
program because they believe that TPS has been abused by
democratic administrations and that it should be discontinued. I should
underscore that some TPS programs remain in place and have
been left intact by the current administration, including the TPS
program for Ukrainians who fled the Russian invasion of their
homeland back in twenty twenty two.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Yeah, I noticed by the way that El Salvadorians are
not losing their TPS status, at least not right now.
As our listeners may remember, is the country that has
that notorious prison, yes, that the US has been sending
migrants to, and the president of El Salvador has become
kind of a friend of President Trump.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
It seems the El Salvador TPS program is going to
be a really interesting case study, Jeremy, because while the
administration has moved to dismantle TPS programs across the board,
really it has kept that program for El Salvador for
the time being. It now allows hundreds of thousands of
migrants from that Central American country to live and work
(08:33):
here legally. Many have been here for decades in the US,
working and contributing to this country. But it has not
ended that program yet, and the speculation at the very
least is that the administration is keeping that program alive
for now because it wants to maintain a good relationship
with the government of President Buglia. As you mentioned, that
(08:54):
country has allowed the Trump administration to send Venezuelan detainees
to that maximum security prison that you mentioned, and has
also vowed to accept other third country deportations from the US.
So it's going to be a really interesting case study
to track because it could be the collision between the
administration's aggressive immigration goals but also diplomatic realities in that country.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Well, stay with us, because in a moment we're going
to talk about what this is going to mean across
the United States. There are a lot of people who
may have to leave the US. One thing Trump did
with CBS immigration reporter Camilo Montoya Galvez will be right back,
(09:54):
Welcome back to one thing Trump did exclusively on the
Middle Podcast feed. I'm Jeremy Hobson. This episode, we're talking
about the Trump Administration's move to remove the temporary protective
status from a number of immigrant groups currently residing in
the United States. I am joined by CBS immigration reporter
Camilo Montoya Galvez. Caamilo, what can you tell us about
how all this is affecting real people who are living
(10:16):
in this country with TPS right now.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
Well, if we look at the TPS programs for Honduras
and Nicaragua, for example, those policies were created back in
nineteen ninety nine. So the people who are covered under
those policies have been living in the US for more
than twenty years since the late nineteen nineties, and now
the government is telling them that they have to pack
their bags essentially and they have to self deport otherwise
(10:43):
they could be at risk of deportation. And so it
has profound impacts for people who have been living in
the US, many of them without any criminal record, for years,
if not decades. But it also impacts their employers and
the companies that are currently employing peaple but with TPS,
because once that TPS protection expires or lapses, those people
(11:06):
will lose their ability to work in the US legally
and will have to either self deport or potentially go
into the underground economy and work in the US illegally,
So it has repercussions not only on the actual TPS holders,
but also on the broader US economy and society.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
Really, yeah, I.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Have to think about even a city like Miami, which
has a neighborhood for almost every one of the countries
that we've talked to, there's a little Haiti.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
I'm sure there's a little Nicaragua.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
I mean, these places are going to be dramatically affected
if so many people who've lived here for so long
have to leave.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
Well, Jeremy, it's going to have repercussions not just on
the TPS holders who are going to lose their deportation
protections and work permits, but also on their families and
their employers, because once they lose that ability to work
in the US lawfully, their employers would be breaking the
law if they continue to employ them and would have
to fire them and let them go. And these people
(12:02):
would have to effectively face that option of self deporting
or staying here illegally, maybe start working in the underground
economy illegally, but with that looming threat of potentially being
arrested by Ice and then deported from the country, and
it would affect communities, yes, like Miami. It would also
affect places like Springfield, Ohio, which has seen thousands of
(12:24):
Haitian migrants settle there in recent years, mostly under the
Bided administration and mostly under that TPS program or that
ch ANDV policy under the Bided administration. If all those
Haitians lose their leegal status, that community will have serious
challenges in looking for labor in many industries, and so
(12:46):
it will affect the TPS holders and their families, but
also the communities that have received them and the employers
who are now relying on their labor too.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Now, Secretary Nome says that people who are about to
lose their TPS protections can still apply for asylum, but
are they likely to get it from this administration.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
Well, the Secretary is correct that anyone who is here
on American soil, generally speaking, can request asylum as a
way to stop their deportation to their home country, but
it is a very high legal threshold to meet. You
have to prove that you are fleeing well founded persecution
based on your race, nationality, religion, or other factors like
(13:30):
membership in a social group to be able to get
asylum and again, most people who apply for asylum in
an immigration court or in front of a US Citizenship
and Immigration Services officer do not actually qualify for that
protection because of those stringent requirements, and so many of
these people will not be able to prove that they
(13:50):
are eligible for asylum. Some will, and some have already
applied for asylum. And also some have gotten green cards
or a permanent residency through other means because they have
family members who are US citizens rather or employers who
are willing to sponsor them, and they have gotten green
cards too, And in the case of Cubans, they actually
qualify for a green card under a Cold War era
(14:13):
law for Cuban exiles. So some of these people will
have other avenues to remain in the country illegally, but
many will not and will have to face that option
of self deporting or staying here illegally without the ability
to work here lawfully and under threat of being deported
by Ice officials.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Meanwhile, there is a lot going on in the courts
with this right now made it all the way to
the US Supreme Court. What's going on with some of
this being held up in the courts?
Speaker 3 (14:46):
Sure, so the Supreme Court has allowed the Chrump administration
to and the TPS protections for more than three hundred
thousand Venezuelan migrants. They have already lost their legal status
and if they did not have another immigration status like
asylum or a green cart, now they are eligible for deportation.
So some federal courts have blocked the administration's efforts to
(15:08):
end TPS programs for other nationals. Just recently, a federal
judge in California delayed the administration's effort to end TPS
for people from Nepal, Honduras, and Nicaragua, and the ruling
was really striking. The judge argued in her opinion that
the administration's decision to end TPS for these countries was
(15:31):
preordained and not based on country conditions in those nations
that continue to linger, and that it was motivated by
racial animis. And she said that the Secretary had made
derogatory comments about these migrants, linking them with criminality unfairly
in her opinion, and so this will be a really
(15:51):
interesting case to see litigated in the courts. But for now,
the administration is being allowed to end TPS for Venezuelans,
but so far it's been blocked for the time being
from the other programs.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Camilla, I know this is like a crazy beat to
be on right now. Immigration, and there's a lot going on,
and you are so knowledgeable about so much of it.
Let me ask you something else, just in case you're
in touch with what's happening. Here are the home countries
prepared to accept these citizens back.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
It's a good question. I think it depends on the
home country we're talking about. Venezuela, as we mentioned, is
still in deep political and economic crisis, but it has
been accepting greater numbers of Venezuela and deportise from the
US under the Trump administration, which has threatened to impose
more sanctions on that country. Or it also has made
(16:44):
prisoner swaps with the US to exchange prisoners, including the
Venezuela detainees previously detained at that maximum security prison in Alsalvador.
They were exchange for a group of Americans who had
been wrongfully detained in Venzeula. In the case of Haiti,
that country is still in deep social and political crisis.
(17:06):
Gangs are running rampant in that country. Still, it is
still the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Political instability
there continues, and so it is very much an open
question whether Haiti can integrate these deep orties back into
Haitian society so they can contribute to the country and
not be forced to flee again to a different country
(17:27):
or to the US. So it really depends on the country.
I think some countries like Honduras and maybe Nicaragua are
a little bit more well equipped to accept returns of
their nationals. But it really does depend on the country.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
So what's the next thing that you're watching for. There
are a lot of deadlines coming up.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
I think it's going to be really important to track
whether the Supreme Court allows the administration to end the
TPS protections for people from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Nepal, Honduras, Nicaragua
and other countries, just like the Court did with Venezuelan migrants.
And I think the answer is likely to be yes,
(18:05):
because the Supreme Court has given the Chump administration a
lot of difference on this issue, especially when it comes
to TPS and temporary legal programs, because it is true
that on their US law, any executive branch has the
authority not only to create TPS programs but also to
end them, and so the administration believes that it has
(18:27):
very strong legal grounds on these TPS terminations and believes
that it will ultimately prevail in court.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
We'll see what happens bigger picture here, beyond the legal questions,
is the United States done offering a helping hand to
people in need around the world if they basically get
rid of TPS, which is I mean, maybe they leave
it for a few countries, but they're essentially getting rid
of it the way that it's been used for the
last several decades.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
I think the bottom line, Jeremy, is that the large
scale use of TPS will be discontinued under this administration,
and only a few countries with active war zones like
Syria and Ukraine maybe Sedan will continue to have these protections.
Other countries will likely lose them, and I do think
the Supine Court will allow the other TPS terminations to
(19:19):
take effect. Now. Whether the US remains a safe haven
for people fleeing violence and persecution is also a matter
that has to do with programs like the refugee Process
an asylum. The administration has tried to curtail access to
asylum along the US Mexico border under the premise that
(19:41):
the US is facing an invasion. That policy is still
in place, and it is blocking most people who are
crossing the border from Mexico from seeking asylum. The administration
has also effectively shuttered the US Refugee program, which allows
people who are vetted overseas to come here legally if
they prove that they have been leeing persecution based on
(20:01):
those factors that I mentioned earlier, the religion, race, or
other grounds, except in the case of white African or
refugees from South Africa, the administration right has made an
exemption from that for that population rather and has allowed
some of them to come here from South Africa and
be resettled in US communities across the country. So I
(20:23):
think it depends on the country the migrant population. But
I think what you are certainly seeing is a dramatic
scaling back in humanitarian immigration programs that this administration beliefs
have been abused for far too long.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
That is Camilla Montoya Galvez, who covers immigration for CBS News.
Speaker 4 (20:43):
Camillo, so interesting.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
Thank you so much for coming on and sharing all
this information with us.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
Sure, of course, thank you, and thanks to.
Speaker 4 (20:51):
You for listening to one thing. Trump did.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
It was produced by Harrison Fatino. Our next middle episode
is coming to your podcast feed later this week. We're
going to be talking about what a reindustrialized America, which
President Trump says he wants to.
Speaker 4 (21:02):
Create, would actually look like.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
Is it possible in an age of AI and cheap
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Our theme music was composed by Noah Haidu. I'm Jeremy Hobson.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
Talk to you soon,
Welcome to One Thing Trump did, available exclusively on the
Middle podcast feed. I'm Jeremy Hobson, and each week on
this show we picked just one thing coming out of
the Trump White House to focus on it and break
it down in a non partisan way with someone who
knows what they are talking about. And today we're talking
about the Trump administration's plans to revoke the temporary Protected
status from a number of immigrants around the United States. Now,
(00:39):
if you are not aware, Temporary Protected Status, or TPS,
is a program that allows nationals of select countries to
come to the United States without the threat of deportation
for a limited time. It was enacted by Congress in
nineteen ninety and less people coming from countries where catastrophic
events like war or famine or natural disasters have occurred
to stay in work in the US. But earlier this year,
(01:02):
the Trump administration announced that it will revoke this status
from several countries Haiti, Venezuela, Afghanistan, Cameroon, Honduras, and Nicaragua.
That affects hundreds of thousands of people, some of whom
have been in this country legally for decades. Here is
the Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Christi Nome talking about
why the administration wants to now send them back.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
This program has been abused and manipulated by the Biden
administration and that will no longer be allowed to allow
that and these extensions going forward the way that they are.
The program was intended to be temporary, and this extension
of over six hundred thousand Venezuelans Venezuelans as well is
(01:44):
alarming when you look at what we've seen in different states,
including Colorado, with gangs doing damage and harming the individuals
and the people that live there.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
Well.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Joining me now is CBS Immigration reporter Camilo Montoya Galvez, Camila,
Welcome to one thing Trump did.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Hello, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Okay, so let's start with the basics for our listeners
who are not familiar. How does TPS work and how
many people are eligible for it at the moment pre
these cancelations by the Trump administration.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Sure So, TPS Temporary Protective Status was created by Congress
back in nineteen ninety and it effectively allows the Department
of Homely in Security to grant certain immigrants a temporary
safe haven in the form of work permits and deportation
protections to people again who come from countries experiencing a
(02:33):
crisis like a war or an environmental disaster that makes
it dangerous to return people to those nations. And under
a Republican and democratic president alike, the Department of Homely
in Security has used that program to grant legal status
to hundreds of thousands of people in the US. It
doesn't actually allow people to come into the US, but
(02:57):
it does grant immigration legal status to people already in
the country living here, sometimes unlawfully or on temporary visas.
And the Bided administration really expanded the scope of TPS
to an unprecedented degree, granting it to people from Venezuela, Haiti, Ukraine, Afghanistan,
and other crisis stricken countries. But the Trump administration, as
(03:20):
part of its immigration crackbound, has really sought to scale
back the use of TPS and has moved to dismantle
TPS programs for a number of countries, including Afghanistan, Cameroon, Nepal, Honduras, Nicaragua, Venezuela,
and Haiti. And that will place hundreds of thousands of
people at risk of deportation if the courts allow these
(03:41):
terminations to take place.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
And when you talk about the Biden administration dramatically expanding it,
they've more than doubled the amount.
Speaker 4 (03:47):
Of people who had access to TPS.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Just the Venezuelans alone is hundreds of thousands of people
in the United States. But the reasons for those protections
being extended to Venezuela, let's talk about them, was quote
a complex humanitarian crisis marked by widespread hunger and malnutrition
in Venezuela, a growing influence and presence of non state
armed groups, repression, and a crumbling infrastructure.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
Has any of that changed in Venezuela in the last
six months.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Well, Venezuela is still in deep political and economic crisis.
That country has seen a massive exodus of millions of
a citizens, not only to the US, but to places
like Columbia, Peru, Brazil, and South America. And the reason
for that exodus has been the repressive government of President
Nicolas Madua, but also the economic collapse of that country.
(04:36):
Over the past decade or so, some conditions have improved
in Venezuela, but the country is still in crisis by
all accounts, and many people are still in exile in
those countries that I mentioned and in the US, But
what the chev administration is arguing in federal court is
that even if conditions in Venezuela and the other countries
(04:58):
that I mentioned are still and in many cases dangerous,
it is not in the national interests of the US
to continue these programs because the administration, Jeremy argues that
these programs incentivize illegal immigration and that they have been
in place for far too long, despite the temporary nature
of again Temporary protective status.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Similarly, Haitians have been given TPS on and off since
twenty ten, and when I look back, it's like every year,
every two years they extended, they extended, then they don't
extend it, then they extended again. There are hundreds of
thousands of Haitians living in the United States because of that,
Are they really all expected to leave?
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Well, that is the Trump administration's position. They are telling
Haitians and the other TPS holders who are set to
lose their deportation protections that they should be self deporting
from the country using a government smartphone app rather that
the administration has created, known as CBP home to register
for self deportation. Otherwise, the administration is warning Haitians and
(06:02):
other TPS holders that they will be found, arrested and
forcibly deported from the country if they remain here unlawfully,
because once they lose that TPS protection, they will become
illegally present in the country and will lose their ability
to work and lift your legally.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Is there rhyme or reason as you can tell to
why certain nationalities are being revoked versus others.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
It's a good question. In the case of Haiti and Venezuela,
the administration says that those programs in particular have incentivized
illegal immigration, and they have cited the very large numbers
of people from those countries that have crossed into the
US illegally, mostly under the Bodied administration, in recent years,
(06:47):
and they have said essentially in court that the Bodied
administration rewarded those people who enter the country illegally by
extending TPS to them and to their countrymen. The case
of Afghanistan is very interesting because by all accounts, conditions
in Afghanistan are still dire. The Taliban has a repressive
(07:11):
record of ruling that country. Many minority groups are still
oppressed in Afghanistan, including women, and conditions in that country
remain really dire. Since the US military withdrawal from that country,
but in court, the administration has argued, jeremy, that it
is still not in the national interest to keep this
(07:31):
program because they believe that TPS has been abused by
democratic administrations and that it should be discontinued. I should
underscore that some TPS programs remain in place and have
been left intact by the current administration, including the TPS
program for Ukrainians who fled the Russian invasion of their
homeland back in twenty twenty two.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Yeah, I noticed by the way that El Salvadorians are
not losing their TPS status, at least not right now.
As our listeners may remember, is the country that has
that notorious prison, yes, that the US has been sending
migrants to, and the president of El Salvador has become
kind of a friend of President Trump.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
It seems the El Salvador TPS program is going to
be a really interesting case study, Jeremy, because while the
administration has moved to dismantle TPS programs across the board,
really it has kept that program for El Salvador for
the time being. It now allows hundreds of thousands of
migrants from that Central American country to live and work
(08:33):
here legally. Many have been here for decades in the US,
working and contributing to this country. But it has not
ended that program yet, and the speculation at the very
least is that the administration is keeping that program alive
for now because it wants to maintain a good relationship
with the government of President Buglia. As you mentioned, that
(08:54):
country has allowed the Trump administration to send Venezuelan detainees
to that maximum security prison that you mentioned, and has
also vowed to accept other third country deportations from the US.
So it's going to be a really interesting case study
to track because it could be the collision between the
administration's aggressive immigration goals but also diplomatic realities in that country.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Well, stay with us, because in a moment we're going
to talk about what this is going to mean across
the United States. There are a lot of people who
may have to leave the US. One thing Trump did
with CBS immigration reporter Camilo Montoya Galvez will be right back,
(09:54):
Welcome back to one thing Trump did exclusively on the
Middle Podcast feed. I'm Jeremy Hobson. This episode, we're talking
about the Trump Administration's move to remove the temporary protective
status from a number of immigrant groups currently residing in
the United States. I am joined by CBS immigration reporter
Camilo Montoya Galvez. Caamilo, what can you tell us about
how all this is affecting real people who are living
(10:16):
in this country with TPS right now.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
Well, if we look at the TPS programs for Honduras
and Nicaragua, for example, those policies were created back in
nineteen ninety nine. So the people who are covered under
those policies have been living in the US for more
than twenty years since the late nineteen nineties, and now
the government is telling them that they have to pack
their bags essentially and they have to self deport otherwise
(10:43):
they could be at risk of deportation. And so it
has profound impacts for people who have been living in
the US, many of them without any criminal record, for years,
if not decades. But it also impacts their employers and
the companies that are currently employing peaple but with TPS,
because once that TPS protection expires or lapses, those people
(11:06):
will lose their ability to work in the US legally
and will have to either self deport or potentially go
into the underground economy and work in the US illegally,
So it has repercussions not only on the actual TPS holders,
but also on the broader US economy and society.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
Really, yeah, I.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Have to think about even a city like Miami, which
has a neighborhood for almost every one of the countries
that we've talked to, there's a little Haiti.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
I'm sure there's a little Nicaragua.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
I mean, these places are going to be dramatically affected
if so many people who've lived here for so long
have to leave.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
Well, Jeremy, it's going to have repercussions not just on
the TPS holders who are going to lose their deportation
protections and work permits, but also on their families and
their employers, because once they lose that ability to work
in the US lawfully, their employers would be breaking the
law if they continue to employ them and would have
to fire them and let them go. And these people
(12:02):
would have to effectively face that option of self deporting
or staying here illegally, maybe start working in the underground
economy illegally, but with that looming threat of potentially being
arrested by Ice and then deported from the country, and
it would affect communities, yes, like Miami. It would also
affect places like Springfield, Ohio, which has seen thousands of
(12:24):
Haitian migrants settle there in recent years, mostly under the
Bided administration and mostly under that TPS program or that
ch ANDV policy under the Bided administration. If all those
Haitians lose their leegal status, that community will have serious
challenges in looking for labor in many industries, and so
(12:46):
it will affect the TPS holders and their families, but
also the communities that have received them and the employers
who are now relying on their labor too.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Now, Secretary Nome says that people who are about to
lose their TPS protections can still apply for asylum, but
are they likely to get it from this administration.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
Well, the Secretary is correct that anyone who is here
on American soil, generally speaking, can request asylum as a
way to stop their deportation to their home country, but
it is a very high legal threshold to meet. You
have to prove that you are fleeing well founded persecution
based on your race, nationality, religion, or other factors like
(13:30):
membership in a social group to be able to get
asylum and again, most people who apply for asylum in
an immigration court or in front of a US Citizenship
and Immigration Services officer do not actually qualify for that
protection because of those stringent requirements, and so many of
these people will not be able to prove that they
(13:50):
are eligible for asylum. Some will, and some have already
applied for asylum. And also some have gotten green cards
or a permanent residency through other means because they have
family members who are US citizens rather or employers who
are willing to sponsor them, and they have gotten green
cards too, And in the case of Cubans, they actually
qualify for a green card under a Cold War era
(14:13):
law for Cuban exiles. So some of these people will
have other avenues to remain in the country illegally, but
many will not and will have to face that option
of self deporting or staying here illegally without the ability
to work here lawfully and under threat of being deported
by Ice officials.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Meanwhile, there is a lot going on in the courts
with this right now made it all the way to
the US Supreme Court. What's going on with some of
this being held up in the courts?
Speaker 3 (14:46):
Sure, so the Supreme Court has allowed the Chrump administration
to and the TPS protections for more than three hundred
thousand Venezuelan migrants. They have already lost their legal status
and if they did not have another immigration status like
asylum or a green cart, now they are eligible for deportation.
So some federal courts have blocked the administration's efforts to
(15:08):
end TPS programs for other nationals. Just recently, a federal
judge in California delayed the administration's effort to end TPS
for people from Nepal, Honduras, and Nicaragua, and the ruling
was really striking. The judge argued in her opinion that
the administration's decision to end TPS for these countries was
(15:31):
preordained and not based on country conditions in those nations
that continue to linger, and that it was motivated by
racial animis. And she said that the Secretary had made
derogatory comments about these migrants, linking them with criminality unfairly
in her opinion, and so this will be a really
(15:51):
interesting case to see litigated in the courts. But for now,
the administration is being allowed to end TPS for Venezuelans,
but so far it's been blocked for the time being
from the other programs.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Camilla, I know this is like a crazy beat to
be on right now. Immigration, and there's a lot going on,
and you are so knowledgeable about so much of it.
Let me ask you something else, just in case you're
in touch with what's happening. Here are the home countries
prepared to accept these citizens back.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
It's a good question. I think it depends on the
home country we're talking about. Venezuela, as we mentioned, is
still in deep political and economic crisis, but it has
been accepting greater numbers of Venezuela and deportise from the
US under the Trump administration, which has threatened to impose
more sanctions on that country. Or it also has made
(16:44):
prisoner swaps with the US to exchange prisoners, including the
Venezuela detainees previously detained at that maximum security prison in Alsalvador.
They were exchange for a group of Americans who had
been wrongfully detained in Venzeula. In the case of Haiti,
that country is still in deep social and political crisis.
(17:06):
Gangs are running rampant in that country. Still, it is
still the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Political instability
there continues, and so it is very much an open
question whether Haiti can integrate these deep orties back into
Haitian society so they can contribute to the country and
not be forced to flee again to a different country
(17:27):
or to the US. So it really depends on the country.
I think some countries like Honduras and maybe Nicaragua are
a little bit more well equipped to accept returns of
their nationals. But it really does depend on the country.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
So what's the next thing that you're watching for. There
are a lot of deadlines coming up.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
I think it's going to be really important to track
whether the Supreme Court allows the administration to end the
TPS protections for people from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Nepal, Honduras, Nicaragua
and other countries, just like the Court did with Venezuelan migrants.
And I think the answer is likely to be yes,
(18:05):
because the Supreme Court has given the Chump administration a
lot of difference on this issue, especially when it comes
to TPS and temporary legal programs, because it is true
that on their US law, any executive branch has the
authority not only to create TPS programs but also to
end them, and so the administration believes that it has
(18:27):
very strong legal grounds on these TPS terminations and believes
that it will ultimately prevail in court.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
We'll see what happens bigger picture here, beyond the legal questions,
is the United States done offering a helping hand to
people in need around the world if they basically get
rid of TPS, which is I mean, maybe they leave
it for a few countries, but they're essentially getting rid
of it the way that it's been used for the
last several decades.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
I think the bottom line, Jeremy, is that the large
scale use of TPS will be discontinued under this administration,
and only a few countries with active war zones like
Syria and Ukraine maybe Sedan will continue to have these protections.
Other countries will likely lose them, and I do think
the Supine Court will allow the other TPS terminations to
(19:19):
take effect. Now. Whether the US remains a safe haven
for people fleeing violence and persecution is also a matter
that has to do with programs like the refugee Process
an asylum. The administration has tried to curtail access to
asylum along the US Mexico border under the premise that
(19:41):
the US is facing an invasion. That policy is still
in place, and it is blocking most people who are
crossing the border from Mexico from seeking asylum. The administration
has also effectively shuttered the US Refugee program, which allows
people who are vetted overseas to come here legally if
they prove that they have been leeing persecution based on
(20:01):
those factors that I mentioned earlier, the religion, race, or
other grounds, except in the case of white African or
refugees from South Africa, the administration right has made an
exemption from that for that population rather and has allowed
some of them to come here from South Africa and
be resettled in US communities across the country. So I
(20:23):
think it depends on the country the migrant population. But
I think what you are certainly seeing is a dramatic
scaling back in humanitarian immigration programs that this administration beliefs
have been abused for far too long.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
That is Camilla Montoya Galvez, who covers immigration for CBS News.
Speaker 4 (20:43):
Camillo, so interesting.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
Thank you so much for coming on and sharing all
this information with us.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
Sure, of course, thank you, and thanks to.
Speaker 4 (20:51):
You for listening to one thing. Trump did.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
It was produced by Harrison Fatino. Our next middle episode
is coming to your podcast feed later this week. We're
going to be talking about what a reindustrialized America, which
President Trump says he wants to.
Speaker 4 (21:02):
Create, would actually look like.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
Is it possible in an age of AI and cheap
overseas labor? And if you like this podcast, please rate
it wherever you get your podcasts and write a review.
Our theme music was composed by Noah Haidu. I'm Jeremy Hobson.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
Talk to you soon,
Host
Jeremy Hobson
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