Appeals Court Protects Syrian TPS Holders from Effort to Strip Legal Status
Court Upheld Order Delaying TPS Termination While Case Moves Forward
(New York, NY) – Yesterday, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a District Court order that delays the Trump Administration’s termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Syria while the legal case moves forward. The Trump administration attempted to terminate TPS for Syria on November 21, which would have stripped more than 6,100 people of their legal status, work authorization, and potentially forced them to return to danger in Syria, while also rendering more than 800 people with pending TPS applications vulnerable to deportation. The International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), Muslim Advocates, and Van Der Hout LLP sued the Trump administration for unlawfully terminating TPS on behalf of a putative class of Syrian TPS holders and applicants who have lived in the United States for years.
In addition to terminating TPS for Syria, in December the U.S. government added Syria to its expanded travel ban and paused decisions on all pending immigration applications for Syrians, preventing Syrian TPS holders from being able to seek other immigration status or benefits.
“The courts yet again recognized the immediate danger facing thousands of Syrian immigrants if the Trump administration’s racist and unlawful attempt to terminate TPS for Syria is allowed to go into effect,” said Lupe Aguirre, Senior Litigation Attorney at IRAP. “The court order protecting thousands of Syrian community members from an immediate and catastrophic loss of legal status remains in effect and we will continue to fight this illegal termination in court along with the Trump administration’s other biased and illegal actions.”
“The decision to uphold the postponement of the termination date is a critical win for the Syrian community, whose lives are not game pieces for the Trump administration to play with,” said Nargis Aslami, Legal Fellow at Muslim Advocates. “The court sends a strong message: the systematic gutting of TPS across the board is unlawful and a product of politics, rather than compliance with the procedural mandates of the TPS statute. We will continue to fight for the dignity and protection of Syrians and all TPS holders targeted by the administration's racist and anti-immigrant agenda.”
“Once again another Federal Court has had to step in to do its part to stop an administration that has run amok,” said Marc Van Der Hout, Founding Partner at Van Der Hout LLP. “Trump and Stephen Miller have not hidden their goal to ‘Make America White Again’ and their terminations of TPS for the citizens of the many countries where they have done this is part of that campaign. We are thankful that courts across the country have stepped in to stop these unlawful terminations which would tear families apart and destroy the lives of thousands upon thousands of deserving people who have rightly been given lawful protection in the U.S. by both Republican and Democratic administrations alike until now.”
“We welcome the court’s decision to uphold the emergency postponement of the termination of TPS for Syria,” said Farrah AlKhorfan, co-founder of Immigrants Act Now. “This decision recognizes the profound consequences of taking away protection that allows Syrians to live, work, and contribute lawfully in the United States while the case proceeds.”
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