Temporary Protective Status expanded before Inauguration Day: Border Watch with Jonathan Mejia
Border Watchers,
Six days away from Inauguration Day. President-elect Donald Trump will officially take office for his second term. I'll be heading to the border again, but this time I will be in the Eagle Pass-Del Rio sector.
Even though President Joe Biden and his administration have less than a week left in office, on Friday he announced an extension that will have a lasting impact. The Biden Administration extended temporary legal status to almost one million immigrants from El Salvador, Sudan, Ukraine and Venezuela, using a program that is expected to be nixed by the incoming Trump administration.
PREVIOUSLY ON BORDER WATCH: Mexico's immigration policy seems to shift: Border Watch with Jonathan Mejia
Temporary Protective Status grants immigrants work permits and deportation protections under the policy, which offers a legal reprieve to foreigners from countries beset by war, natural disasters, or other emergencies that make deportations unsafe.
The decision is set to benefit roughly 234,000 Salvadorans; 1,900 Sudanese; 104,000 Ukrainians; and 600,000 Venezuelans, according to the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the programs. The TPS program for El Salvador will be extended through March 2026, while the designations for Sudan, Ukraine and Venezuela will be extended through October 2026.
TPS is expected to be eliminated by Trump, who has vowed to dismantle Biden administration immigration policy, enact tougher immigration rules and launch a mass deportation campaign. TPS designations can be revoked by the DHS secretary, as long as the government provides a 60-day notice.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE 'BORDER WATCH' NEWSLETTER
This comes as another migrant caravan is reportedly making its way to the southern border, hoping to arrive before Trump takes office.
We're also tracking how smugglers are finding more ways to get migrants into the country illegally. In El Paso, federal agents discovered a smuggling tunnel at the border. Once excavated, agents found the tunnel extends under the United States-Mexico border into a storm drain in El Paso. The tunnel was four feet across and six feet high, held up by wood beams and equipped with electricity, a ventilation system, and appears to have been constructed within the past year, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
ICYMI, my special reports from the Rio Grande Valley are now available and streaming on FOX Local.