Temporary Protected Status revoked for more than 1 million people from 13 countries — Transcript

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1. 0:01[music]
2. 0:01>> On the immigration front, temporary
3. 0:03protected status for people from
4. 0:06Ethiopia revoked by the Trump
5. 0:08administration. Uh now this means legal
6. 0:10status for more than 1 million people
7. 0:12from 13 countries is wiped out. Live to
8. 0:15CBS News immigration correspondent
9. 0:16Camilo Montoya-Galvez. Okay Camilo,
10. 0:18what's left of this TPS program in the
11. 0:21United States?
12. 0:23>> Hi Reed, just to underscore again that
13. 0:25point, 1 million people, more than 1
14. 0:28million people who were previously in
15. 0:30the US legally and authorized to work in
16. 0:32the country lawfully have now lost their
17. 0:34deportation protections, are subject to
18. 0:37deportation, and can no longer work in
19. 0:40the country legally. That is after the
20. 0:42Supreme Court earlier this summer
21. 0:44allowed the Trump administration to
22. 0:46basically end most TPS or temporary
23. 0:49protected status programs for nationals
24. 0:53of about 13 countries. We're talking
25. 0:55about citizens of Afghanistan, Cameroon,
26. 0:58Burma, Ethiopia, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal,
27. 1:01Nicaragua, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria,
28. 1:04Venezuela, and Yemen. So, the scope of
29. 1:07this massive campaign to basically turn
30. 1:10hundreds of thousands of immigrants here
31. 1:12into illegal immigrants is massive and
32. 1:15really breathtaking, honestly. Reed, the
33. 1:18Department of Homeland Security is now
34. 1:20telling everyone affected by the TPS
35. 1:22terminations that they should pack their
36. 1:24bags, that they should self-deport from
37. 1:26the country. Otherwise, the Department
38. 1:29is warning them that they will be found,
39. 1:31identified, arrested, and forcibly
40. 1:33deported from the country. Now, only
41. 1:36four TPS programs remain, at least for
42. 1:39now.
43. 1:40They protect citizens of El Salvador,
44. 1:42Lebanon, Sudan, and Ukraine, but it is
45. 1:45likely that the Trump administration,
46. 1:47Reed, will move to end those programs,
47. 1:49too. Most of them, at least, at some
48. 1:51point.
49. 1:52>> And just want to do a follow-up
50. 1:53question. We're talking about a million
51. 1:55people, but also people who did all the
52. 1:58right things leading up to this. No,
53. 2:00these are not people who are skirting
54. 2:03process before the Trump administration
55. 2:05came to power for the second time.
56. 2:08>> That is a critical question, Reed,
57. 2:10because to be eligible for TPS somebody
58. 2:14cannot have a serious criminal record in
59. 2:17the US. So, by definition, most TPS
60. 2:20holders don't have any criminal record
61. 2:22at all, or if they do, it's a low-level
62. 2:25criminal record to be eligible again for
63. 2:28deportation protections under that
64. 2:29policy. And in some cases, like in the
65. 2:32case of migrants from El Salvador,
66. 2:34Honduras, and other countries, and
67. 2:36Haiti, too, they have been in the US for
68. 2:38years, if not decades, have in some
69. 2:41cases US citizen children or spouses.
70. 2:44And so, this will affect communities and
71. 2:46families across the country. But again,
72. 2:48the Trump administration's argument,
73. 2:49Reed, is that
74. 2:50the TPS policy has been abused by
75. 2:53Democratic administrations, that it has
76. 2:55been extended for far too long, despite
77. 2:58the temporary nature of the policy. T in
78. 3:00TPS, of course, stands for temporary,
79. 3:03and that the programs need to be winded
80. 3:05down eventually.
81. 3:06>> One of the first big immigration stories
82. 3:08that you covered here on CBS News 24/7
83. 3:10was that of the man who was wrongfully
84. 3:12deported from the United States, then
85. 3:14brought back, of course, Kilmar Abrego
86. 3:16Garcia. You have an update on the
87. 3:18Justice Department's push for charges
88. 3:20against him.
89. 3:22>> Yeah, Reed, just to level set, back in
90. 3:24May in this spring, a federal judge in
91. 3:27Tennessee
92. 3:28dismissed the criminal charges faced by
93. 3:31Kilmar Abrego Garcia, that man who was
94. 3:33wrongfully deported to El Salvador last
95. 3:35year. He had been facing criminal
96. 3:37charges and allegations that he
97. 3:39illegally smuggled undocumented
98. 3:41immigrants into the US. That was the
99. 3:44charge by the Justice Department, but
100. 3:46the judge in that case dismissed the
101. 3:48charges on the grounds that he found
102. 3:51that it was politically motivated the
103. 3:53prosecution. That the only reason the
104. 3:55Justice Department prosecuted this man
105. 3:57from El Salvador was because he
106. 3:59challenged legally his wrongful
107. 4:01deportation to El Salvador. Well, now
108. 4:04the Justice Department is asking an
109. 4:06appellate court, higher court, to stay
110. 4:09that dismissal and to reinstate the
111. 4:12charges effectively so Kilmer Abrego
112. 4:15Garcia continues to undergo a criminal
113. 4:18prosecution. We should underscore that
114. 4:20this is a separate effort by the Trump
115. 4:22administration that also includes
116. 4:26their attempts to deport this man to the
117. 4:29African country of Liberia. That is a
118. 4:31separate case that is also ongoing. ICE
119. 4:34has said that it is prepared to send
120. 4:37this man to that African country instead
121. 4:39of Costa Rica, which has agreed to
122. 4:41accept him and where he believes he
123. 4:44would be safe. And for now, a judge has
124. 4:47blocked that effort as well, Reed.
125. 4:49>> Camila Montalvo Galvez, thank you so
126. 4:51much.