US urges migrants on temporary status to seek permanent status

Migrants in the United States on temporary protected status should seek permanent residence or return to their home countries, US Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said on Sunday.

The remarks, made on CNN's 'State of the Union' programme, followed last week's split Supreme Court decision allowing President Donald Trump's administration to strip hundreds of thousands of Haitian and Syrian immigrants of a humanitarian status that protects them from deportation to home countries plagued by conflict and destitution, rerports UK-based globally reputed news agency Reuters.

The United States first granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Haitians after a devastating earthquake in 2010 and to Syrians after their country descended into civil war in 2012.

The prospect of large-scale deportations faces opposition, even among some Republicans. Also speaking to CNN on Sunday, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said it was not safe for Haitians to return and that the removal of diligent workers would hurt the Ohio economy and leave the healthcare industry short-staffed.

During the 2024 election, Trump falsely accused Haitians living in Ohio of eating other people's household pets. The Supreme Court's conservative majority found, however, that Haitians suing the administration were unlikely to succeed in their argument that the administration's actions were racially biased.

The presence of Haitians in the state has helped spur economic revival in some areas of Ohio that had fallen into post-industrial decline, boosting wages and job creation, Reuters has reported.

"It's Haitians who many times are taking care of your mum or your dad who has Alzheimer's, taking care of family members who might be in a nursing home," DeWine said. "And to say we're going to pull all those out, it's just not in our own self-interest."