NY state forced to fire Salvadorans, Haitians working for government after TPS terminated

New York Governor Kathy Hochul demanded that the Department of Homeland Security not terminate the Temporary Protected Status for Haitians and El Salvadorans who are currently working for the state government. She shared the letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, saying "terminating Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of immigrants is reckless and inhumane."

"The callousness of abruptly ending TPS for legally-present individuals including the recent termination for Haitians and the forthcoming termination for Salvadorans will force New York State and local governments to sever the employment of hundreds of essential employees as soon as next week, putting their livelihoods—and potentially their safety—at risk," Hochul states. She noted that the private sector also employs immigrants under Temporary Protected Status.

"The sudden removal of these members of our workforce and our communities will impact critical services that New Yorkers rely on—with a particularly heavy impact on the healthcare industry," she said. She went on to claim that the Trump administration is "knowingly and cruelly forcing thousands of families to leave" the United States and "return to their home countries, regardless of any ongoing or worsening humanitarian crises."

This, Hochul said, is an "inhumane act." She encourages the Trump administration's DHS to "fully restore TPS for those who cannot return due to extreme instability, violence, and crises," saying that "people should not be forced back into danger."

"No administration should knowingly send individuals back into harm's way when the law provides a clear path to protect them," she said. Many foreign nationals have seen their Temporary Protected Status come to an end after years of renewals, including Somalia, South Sudan, Burma, Yemen, Syria, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Ethiopia, and Venezuela, as well as Haiti and El Salvador. TPS status for Lebanese in the United States was extended to November.

There are more than 170,000 El Salvadorans in the United States who have benefited from Temporary Protected Status, which began in 2002 after earthquakes in that nation. It has been repeatedly extended for 18-month terms and is now set to expire Sept. 9. The Temporary Protection Status designation for Haitians began after a 2010 earthquake and expired July 27. There were more than 330,000 Haitians in the US under this designation at the time of its expiry.