Opinion

RAY: A ‘Temporary’ Swamp Creature Might Have Gained Some Credibility

Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Dave Ray Federation for American Immigration Reform
Font Size:

Only in the stagnant swamps of Washington, DC, could a public policy with the word “temporary” in its title gain a sense of permanence, but that is exactly what has happened to Temporary Protected Status (TPS).

TPS was a benevolent policy enacted in 1990 to provide temporary safe haven to those who were visiting or temporarily living in the United States – such as tourists or students – when civil strife or a natural disaster suddenly struck back home, making their immediate return either very difficult or dangerous.

Consider a situation where your neighbor’s house floods and you offer the comforts of your living room to the displaced family so they have somewhere safe to live while their home is being repaired. Except in the case of TPS, the people residing in your living room never go home. And they invite their family members, who are not even in the U.S. yet, to move in as well.

The near permanence of TPS can be seen by considering the fact that today, there are more than 400,000 TPS recipients from ten countries in the United States. A large number of these recipients are from Central America, and received TPS at the turn of the century – roughly 20 years ago – due to the damages inflicted by Hurricane Mitch. Not one of these countries was a paradise before the hurricane struck, and they aren’t likely to become a paradise if we extend TPS for another 20 years. But the countries have had decades to recover and their displaced citizens should return home.

In addition to its failure to be temporary, TPS has other problems as well. For many, it became a magnet for illegal immigration. Once a country was granted TPS, for example, those wishing to reside in the U.S. and obtain coveted work permits simply rushed the borders, knowing that they would likely be able to benefit from the quasi-permanent protected status like many of their fellow countrymen.

Early on, the Trump administration recognized the inherent problems with TPS and moved to restore its original objective and integrity by ending the status for those who had been here for decades and whose countries had sufficient time to heal. Unfortunately, activist judges immediately issued injunctions, ensuring TPS would remain in place for the countries in question.

The problem with never sending home TPS recipients is that it tells the American public that the policy has no credibility. Allowing someone to remain here temporarily because of a sudden disaster back home is not a promise of permanent residence, nor is it path to citizenship. It is a short-term offer of humanitarian assistance. If the public loses faith in the credibility of the program because beneficiaries never go home, then the ability of Congress to extend this program to future populations could be called into question.

Thankfully, and to the surprise of many who long ago had given up on a sensible immigration-related ruling coming out of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the court recently overruled the lower courts and cleared the way for the Trump Administration to end TPS for four nations: El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Sudan.

This momentous ruling is not only a win for the American people, but for the rule of law, while also serving as a strong rebuke to activist judges who have decided that they have the authority to make immigration policy from the bench.

The decision affirms two very important aspects of TPS. First, it reminds its recipients that the “T” in TPS stands for temporary, and that they should never have the expectation that they will be staying here long term or that they are on a path to citizenship.

The second aspect of the ruling that is of critical importance is that it affirms that the Department of Homeland Security, along with other relevant federal agencies, has clear and unambiguous authority and discretion to oversee the program and decide when those who are benefitting from TPS should return home.

Prior to this ruling it could be argued that TPS should be abolished all together because it couldn’t be administered and enforced in the way it was intended.  Now, perhaps, the courts have shown us that this humanitarian policy just might be able to work after all. Perhaps the swamp is actually changing.

Dave Ray is director of communications at the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), a nonprofit group advocating for legal immigration.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel