White House Ends Temporary Protected Status for Nepalese Nationals
By: Roujin Mozaffarimehr
On April 26, the Trump Administration announced that it will end Temporary Protected Status for Nepalese nationals, claiming that the living conditions in Nepal have vastly since the April 2015 earthquake, so that those with TPS could return to their homeland.
The 2015 earthquake killed nearly 9,000 people and destroyed tens of thousands of homes. International rehabilitation efforts have helped the residents of Nepal bring some semblance of order back to their lives, but the country is still struggling to recover fully from the disaster.
About 9,000 Nepalese nationals who currently hold TPS will have their status terminated on June 24, 2019. Re-registration for those holding TPS is available through July 23, 2018, and employment authorization is auto extended through December 21, 2018. Those who re-register through July 23 will be issued employment authorization through July 24, 2019.
The Trump Administration has now ended TPS protections for hundreds of thousands of immigrants over the last year, including from Sudan, Haiti, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and now Nepal. Many of these countries are still recovering from devastating natural disasters, including the 2010 earthquake in Haiti that was followed by Hurricane Mathew in 2017, and sky-rocketing violent crime rates in El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Honduras. While the Nepalese were only afforded TPS protection since 2015, many nationals from El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua have been here for upwards of 15 years. They are now faced with returning to home countries they no longer call home. Some have US citizen children, many have started businesses here in the US, and most do not have a connection with the countries they fled so many years ago.
If you are interested in additional information regarding the re-registration process for Nepalese nationals holding TPS, please contact our office for more information.
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