(Image source from: nytimes.com)
The Trump administration on Friday announced its decision on ending protections for the immigrants lived in the United States for about two decades after the hurricane that despoiled their country.
The Department of Homeland Security proclaimed it was ending the protection for Hondurans but has delayed the closure date until Jan. 5, 2020, about 18 months, sending the actual termination of the protections into the next presidential election year.
Nearly 90,000 Hondurans could be forced to leave the country who have been allowed to live and work in work in the United States since 1999.
Determined to restrain in both legal and illegal immigration, The Trump administration since last year has abandoned protections for more than 300,000 citizens from countries and principally in the Caribbean and in Central America, that have suffered natural disasters. 
Note: Totals do not add due to rounding. Data current as of October 2017. Source: US Citizenship and Immigration Services
Critics have accused the administration of pre-deciding to end the status regardless of the dangerous conditions that persist in the home countries and in some cases over the objections of those countries' governments.
“I have determined that conditions have improved sufficiently in Honduras to warrant suspension of protected status for its citizens in the United States,” said Kirstjen Nielson, the Homeland Security Secretary, according to a department statement.
Hondurans with TPS who want to stay in the country through and through the deadline of 2020 are required to re-register and apply for work authorization, which costs $495 including a fee for digital fingerprints.
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Member of Congress who represent South Florida tweeted saying “Administration’s wrongheaded decision negatively impacts families and economy. I urge DHS Govt. to reconsider.”
Samuel Contreras, a licensed contractor on Long Island who arrived in 1998, shortly after Hurricane Mitch struck Honduras said, “I did everything right: I worked hard, started a company, had two children and made investments here. The bank approved a $300,000 mortgage because I have good credit and income. Now I don’t know what will happen.”
By Sowmya Sangam
