Maryland-based organization sues Department of Homeland Security over end of Venezuelan immigration program
CASA, a Maryland-based immigration advocacy organization filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after the Trump administration announced the end of a program that protects Venezuelan migrants in the U.S.
The Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations for Venezuela protect migrants from deportation. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the department would revoke one of the two designations.
TPS was created in 1990 to grant temporary protections to migrants from nations suffering from the impacts of war, natural disasters or other emergencies. The policy allows designated migrants to apply for work permits but does not give them permanent legal status.
The designations for Venezuela were initially set after the U.S. government determined the country was too dangerous for natives to return safely, according to CBS News.
Government statistics show that the Venezuelan TPS program is the biggest of its kind and protects more than 600,000 migrants. The end of the program would mean about 350,000 migrants would lose work permits and deportation protections two months after the decision is published, which could occur in the spring, CBS News reported.
CASA files lawsuit
The lawsuit, filed by organizations CASA and Make the Road New York, cites the Fifth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause, which prevents the federal government from taking actions that are motivated by discrimination.
"The discriminatory intent is evidenced by federal officials' repeated remarks that Venezuela and other non-European countries have 'emptied their jails' and 'mental institutions' to send migrants to the U.S.," CASA said in a statement.
The lawsuit alleges that federal officials abused their authority. CASA also claims there have been "repeated statements that dehumanize immigrants of color" after the announcement about terminating the TPS program.
The lawsuit claims the "demonstrated racial animus motivating the termination of Venezuela TPS" violates the Fifth Amendment. It further alleges that Secretary Noem and the federal government failed to follow the Administrative Procedure Act, which allows federal courts to set aside unlawful actions.
Through the lawsuit, CASA and Make The Road New York are seeking to reverse the end of the TPS designation.
"This unconstitutional action forces nearly 600,000 Venezuelans and their families currently living in the U.S. with TPS protection into the untenable position of potentially being forced to return to a country experiencing what has been described as one of the worst humanitarian crises in the history of the Western Hemisphere," CASA said.
In the decision to end the TPS program, the DHS said conditions in Venezuela have improved enough to end the protective status, CBS News reported.