The Trump administration can end temporary legal status of hundreds of thousands of immigrants, an appeals court has ruled Monday.

Donald Trump
Reutersconnect

Immigrants from El Salvador, Nicaragua, Haiti, and Sudan face deportation as the protections that allowed them to stay in the U.S. will likely end.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday lifted the injunction that blocked the Trump admin from ending Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for the four counties.

Since 1990, the policy allowed a temporary legal status to immigrants from countries hit by natural disasters or conflicts. The legal status had often been extended, but the White House decided to end it for the four countries.

They argued that extending the TPS, again and again, runs against its purpose, said a CNN report.

Politico noted that there would be at least 300,000 affected immigrants. People from these countries enjoyed the TPS for about two decades already.

In a report from Al Jazeera, they noted that the most affected group would be El Salvador immigrants.

Court Sides with Trump, 2-1

The ruling was a 2-1 decision from the panel of the 9th Circuit. It said that a federal judge in San Francisco erred when he blocked the government's move to end the TPS in 2018.

In the majority opinion, Judge Consuelo Callahan said the decision to give TPS to any foreign country "begins and ends with the Secretary." They added that so long as the criteria that apply are met.

Callahan was referring to the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Judge Ryan Nelson joined the decision and said the secretary's discretion to end TPS is "broad and unique in nature."

Dan Hetlage, US Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesman, said they are "reviewing the decision." He added that updates would be announced as they are made available.

Callahan was appointed by former President George Bush, while Trump appointed Nelson.

Trump has made moves to restrict other humanitarian statuses in the U.S. He sharply limited the number of refugees allowed to resettle in the U.S. and took measures to curb access to asylum.

TPS Holders Push Back

Some TPS holders and their children, who are U.S. citizens, challenged the plan to end the TPS.

They argued that the decision was fueled by racism. But the court panel's majority concluded that there is still not proof that the decision was "motivated by racial animus."

In her dissent, Circuit Judge Morgan Christen said the TPS terminations needed to be reviewed.

Christen also claimed that they violated federal administrative law, CBS News reported. She added that the ruling had "monumental" consequences, which were "deeply flawed."

"The importance of the interests at stake makes the argument in favor of reviewability even more compelling," she said.

She added that, with the terminations, the lives of 300,000 non-citizens and 200,000 U.S. citizen children would be forever changed.

Christen was appointed by President Barack Obama.

Last year, the DHS announced the extension of the validity of work permits for El Salvadorans with TPS through January 4, 2021.

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