The Trump administration will rescind temporary protected status for 9,000 Nepalese people who were granted permission to live and work in the U.S. following a 2015 earthquake in the country, the Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday afternoon.
Nepali people will have 14 months to return home before the TPS program is formally concluded on June 24, 2019. Recipients will be permitted to renew their TPS status between now and then.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen said the decision to renew the program every two years was based on whether environmental disaster-related conditions still existed in Nepal.
“[T]he secretary determined that the disruption of living conditions in Nepal from the April 2015 earthquake and subsequent aftershocks that served as the basis for its TPS designation have decreased to a degree that they should no longer be regarded as substantial, and Nepal can now adequately manage the return of its nationals. Thus, as required under the applicable statute, the current TPS designation must be terminated,” DHS said in a statement.
“Since the 2015 earthquake, conditions in Nepal have notably improved. Additionally, since the last review of the country’s conditions in October 2016, Nepal has made substantial progress in post-earthquake recovery and reconstruction,” the statement read.
DHS announced in December that TPS programs for Nicaraguans would conclude in the coming months.
Since the fall, DHS has said it will conclude TPS programs for El Salvador, Haiti, and Honduras.
However, 2,500 Nicaraguan TPS beneficiaries were given 14 months from November to leave the U.S. or apply for a different visa that would allow them to remain in the country.
Similarly, the administration said it would end provisional residency status for 59,000 Haitians who were allowed to live and work in the U.S. following the 2010 earthquake.
Nielsen announced an 18-month extension for the TPS program for Syrians, which affects 7,000 people in the U.S.
