WASHINGTON, D.C. — The nation’s highest court is considering President Trump’s bid to end certain protections for immigrants, and it involves temporary protected status.
TPS allows people from certain countries to come to the United States legally. These countries deal with war, disasters, or conditions that make it unsafe to go home.
In the U.S., around 400,000 people have temporary protected status, and thousands of them live in the Miami Valley.
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On Monday, News Center 7 said a group of people from Springfield and Dayton planned to travel to Washington, D.C. Instead of applying for continued TPS status, they went to the Supreme Court to continue their fight to stay in the country.
Viles Dorsainvil is the Director of Springfield’s Haitian Community Center. “Get involved and tell our own story.”
He told News Center 7 his story. On Wednesday, Dorsainvil went to Washington, D.C., to tell his story and listen to the Supreme Court arguments that will determine the future of his TPS.
“In my office in Ohio, there are so many families that come to the office asking questions,” Dorsainvil said.
The case in front of the Supreme Court began after the Trump administration ruled an end to refugee TPS for Haitians and a much smaller group of Syrians in the United States.
Lawyers for the TPS holders argued the administration used a flawed process and didn’t consider the home country’s conditions.
Trump Administration lawyers said the Congressional TPS statute bars any judicial review of the decisions.
Justice Kagan said, “There was no information addressed by the Department of State with respect to the country’s conditions.”
The Inspector General said, “I disagree because obviously sending aliens back based on country’s conditions raises all kinds of foreign policy issues.”
Any Supreme Court decision will have a huge impact on the estimated 15,000 Haitians who settled in the Springfield area after gaining refugee status.
“We urge a decision that reflects both the law and our shared values, fairness, stability, and compassion,” Dorsaninvil said.
The Supreme Court can issue a decision any day after the hearing ends. However, it is typically a matter of weeks to even 3 to 4 months before a written decision is released.
If their TPS status is ended, Haitians could be open to detention and deportation.
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