Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and “State of the Union” host Jake Tapper clashed Sunday over the future of more than 350,000 migrants currently living in the United States. The televised debate followed a major 6-3 Supreme Court decision on Thursday, which sided with the Trump administration and authorized the government to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for individuals from Haiti and Syria.
During the broadcast, Tapper pressed Mullin on whether the judicial ruling meant hundreds of thousands of people would face immediate deportation from the country.
Mullin contested the premise, emphasizing that the program was never designed to be a permanent residency track. “[F]irst of all, Temporary Protective Status was never intended to be permanent,” Mullin said. “And there’s a lot of people that came over here 15, 20 years ago underneath TPS that’s already changed their status. The whole time these individuals have been here underneath the Temporary Protected Status, they could have applied for a visa. They could have applied for LPR [Lawful Permanent Resident status]. They could have applied for different directions. But the status itself can be ended in its name itself by saying ‘Temporary.’”
According to the DHS Secretary, affected migrants now have a few specific choices regarding their legal status. Mullin explained that individuals can attempt to secure a permanent residence, seek a temporary visa, or repatriate voluntarily. “And if they want to go back, we will help them with that,” Mullin stated.
To assist those who choose to leave the United States, Mullin revealed that the federal government is prepared to provide financial and logistical resources to help them get settled.
“If I was talking directly to the individuals with the Temporary Protected Status: either try to fill out the paperwork and be here underneath a permanent status, or we will help you get back to your country,” Mullin said. “We will actually give you a plane ticket, plus roughly $2,100, to help you re-establish when you get there. But Temporary Protected Status, according to the courts and in its name itself, is not permanent status.”
Mullin added that migrants looking to file for permanent residency in the U.S. must meet specific legal standards, noting that applicants cannot have felony charges or be enrolled in public social programs.
The TPS program originally dates back to November 1990, when President George H.W. Bush signed the Immigration Act of 1990 into law. According to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website, the status was created to handle extraordinary humanitarian situations, such as ongoing wars or environmental disasters, where an immigrant’s home country is deemed too dangerous for a safe return. Following a catastrophic earthquake in Haiti in 2010, the Obama administration officially granted TPS to Haitian nationals living in the U.S.
Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling concludes a series of prolonged legal challenges over the executive branch’s authority to wind down these protections. Prior to this decision, the Trump administration faced significant pushback in lower courts. The USCIS website notes that federal district court judges in states such as Massachusetts, California, and Illinois had previously issued eight separate injunctions to block earlier termination attempts.
Currently, foreign nationals from twelve different countries remain protected from deportation under active TPS designations.
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