UNITE HERE Blasts End of Protections for Nicaraguan Immigrants

WASHINGTON—In a move the UNITE HERE union called “a stain on American history,” the Department of Homeland Security Department has announced that it will not renew temporary protected status for Nicaraguan immigrants. The status, which lets foreigners stay and work in the United States, covers about 400,000 people who were here when there was a war or natural disaster in their home countries. It was given to Hondurans and Nicaraguans after Hurricane Mitch killed thousands of people in the two countries in 1999. “Donald Trump has taken hundreds of thousands of dedicated employees who serve our country and turned them into targets for deportation overnight,” said UNITE HERE general vice president Maria Elena Durazo. Acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke said she needed more time to decide whether Hondurans still deserved the protection, so it will be extended for them for up to six months. Up to 5,300 Nicaraguans will have to leave the U.S. by January 2019. The Trump administration has also terminated protections for Sudan, and is considering ending them for the more than 58,000 Haitians who got a six-month extension in May, and about 263,000 people from El Salvador, whose protections expire in January.

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