Adhikaar, Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc.(CLINIC), and America’s Voice Condemn Decision to Terminate TPS for Nepalis
Advocacy groups are speaking out against the Trump Administration’s announcement yesterday that it will terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Nepali holders. Legal and policy experts agree that Nepal is not ready to integrate thousands of people back into the country after suffering from a massively destructive earthquake in 2015.
Relevant quotes and excerpts follow:
ABC: Trump administration ends humanitarian program for Nepal, By Geneva Sands
April 26, 2018
A recent Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc. (CLINIC) report found that safe return of Nepali TPS holders and their families remains impossible at this time due to the severe lack of adequate shelter, food, water, healthcare, education and jobs as well as other risks.
It is critical for the TPS designation for Nepal to be extended, in light of the slow pace and numerous obstacles to reconstruction and recovery from the 2015 earthquake,” said Jennifer Ruddle, CLINIC staff attorney.
NBC: U.S. plans to end protected status granted to Nepalis after 2015 earthquake, By Chris Fuchs
April 26, 2018
“Terminating TPS for Nepal is not just wrong but immoral,” Pabitra Khati Benjamin, executive director of Adhikaar, a New York City-based Nepali advocacy group, said in a statement. “It is clear that in the three years since the earthquake, Nepal is still very much in recovery mode.”
[…]
A March 2018 report from the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, an advocacy group, concluded that at the very least an 18-month TPS extension should be granted since Nepal has made limited progress stabilizing and rebuilding since the earthquake.
The Hill: DHS ends protected status for Nepal, By Rafael Bernal
April 26, 2018
“This Administration’s motion today to terminate TPS for Nepal marks the fifth in a string of heartless decisions that have put over 300,000 immigrants on the path to deportation. While we are disheartened, we are not surprised,” said Pili Tobar, managing director of America’s Voice, a progressive immigration advocacy organization.
New York Daily News: Trump administration ends protections for 9,000 Nepali immigrants who fled devastating 2015 earthquake, By Chris Sommerfeldt
April 26, 2018
Adhikaar, a Nepali immigration advocacy group with offices in Woodside, Queens, blasted Nielsen’s announcement as heartless, noting more than 75% of infrastructure destroyed by the quake has not been rebuilt.
‘This decision only comes to show that any glimmer of hope we had from this administration’s ability to follow the rule of law is now gone,’ the organization said in a statement.
[…]
Adhikaar called on Congress to reverse the Trump administration’s Thursday announcement, and urged its members to remain resilient.
‘There is more we can do, and this fight is bound to grow from here,’ the group said. ‘There is more to come, so stay connected and engaged as you have done for the last few months because more than ever we all need one another.’
Boston Globe: Nepali immigrants lose their protected status, By Akilah Johnson
April 26, 2018
It is clear that in the three years since the earthquake, Nepal is still very much in recovery mode,” Pabitra Khati Benjamin, executive director of Adhikaar, a New York-based human rights organization that serves Nepali speakers, said in a statement. “Less than 13.3 [percent] of the homes affected have been rebuilt. Yes, the country is functioning but that is in part as a result of TPS holders sending money back home to rebuild. Terminating TPS for Nepal is not just wrong but immoral.
