Kean students react to President Trump’s rollback of Temporary Protection Status

By Sean Calderon | Published March 1, 2018

The Trump administration declared on Jan. 8 that it will move to terminate the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for four countries, including over 200,000 Salvadorans and over 50,000 Haitians, who now face deportation.

The current administration plans to roll back the policy that also includes El Salvadoran (given after the 2001 El Salvadoran earthquakes) and Haitian nationals (given after the 2010 Haitian earthquake).’

This means that TPS protected immigrants would be sent back to their country of origin.

The Department of Homeland Security released an announcement on Jan. 8 that the TPS for El Salvadorans has ended, meaning that no more would be granted entry to the U.S on the policy’s grounds. As for the more than 200,000 El Salvadorans who are already in the U.S, their protection will end on September 9, 2019, after an 18-month termination delay was declared to “allow for an orderly transition”.

Sophomore Genesis Guzman gave her take on the issue. Her parents came to the U.S. from El Salvador under the TPS system. Being an American-born citizen, it wasn’t easy to believe the announcement of the policy’s rollback. Her parents would be facing possible deportation.

“It’s sad to see the issues affecting other people affecting my family,” said Guzman. “Me and my brother were born here, but I’d need to change a lot of what my parents have already built here.”

Haitian nationals under the TPS were also given an ultimatum. The protected status of over 58,000 Haitians will end on July 22, 2019. On Jan. 11, President Trump made controversial remarks on countries like Haiti at a bi-partisan meeting. He reportedly asked why the U.S keeps letting people from “shithole countries” in, a term that has put him under even more fire.

Haitian students here at Kean, like sophomore Joel JeanMarie, have given strong feelings towards President Trump’s actions. Like Guzman, he showed strong resentment to the latest roll back, as well as the President’s controversial remarks.

“Imagine growing up in poverty and then a disaster [2010 Haitian earthquake] strikes,” said Jean-Marie. “Now there’s even more struggles coming your way.”

Jean-Marie also explained how many Haitians make their way to the U.S look for a better living and “to become a better person overall.”

President Trump has been keen on reversing many regulations, especially Obama-era policies. Th e most notable one is DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), also known as the DREAM Act. It entitles families who brought children illegally at a young age, full time citizenship and the same rights as every American, including healthcare, free public education, and so forth. Only time will tell what the outcome of the Trump administration’s decision will be.

However, Guzman has advice on how other students can help affected students.

“Kean is a very diverse campus, so it would be a good place to spread awareness of the situation,” said Guzman. “Getting information here will help people affected by this situation, even to non-TPS aff ected immigrant students.”

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