The Trump administration will terminate deportation protections for thousands of migrants from Syria, homeland security officials said on Friday.
About 6,000 Syrians are authorized to live and work in the United States through the program, known as Temporary Protected Status, which is meant to help migrants who cannot return to their countries because of unsafe conditions. About 1,000 more Syrians also had pending applications to join the program as of August, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
“This is what restoring sanity to America’s immigration system looks like,” Tricia McLaughlin, the department’s assistant secretary for public affairs, said in a statement. “Conditions in Syria no longer prevent their nationals from returning home. Syria has been a hotbed of terrorism and extremism for nearly two decades, and it is contrary to our national interest to allow Syrians to remain in our country. T.P.S. is meant to be temporary.”
Some immigration policy experts criticized the decision, saying that conditions in Syria were still unstable and that Syrians did not pose major terrorism risks. After more than a decade of civil war, rebels ended the Assad family’s brutal rule in Syria late last year. Although Syria’s new leaders have sought to move away from dictatorship, concerns over sectarian conflict and violence remain.
Amanda Baran, the former head of policy for Citizenship and Immigration Services during the Biden administration, said the decision to end the program was “gutting for the thousands of Syrians here with T.P.S. and the communities in which they live.”
“Conditions in Syria remain dangerous and unstable, clearly warranting an extension under the law,” Ms. Baran said. “This administration’s disregard for the expertise of human rights experts is having real, dire consequences on the lives of everyday people as demonstrated by this reckless decision.”
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