CLINIC Condemns Trump Decision to Terminate TPS for Nepal, Clearly Not Based on the Law

SILVER SPRING, Maryland, April 27 -- The Catholic Legal Immigrant Network issued the following news release:

In another decision that defies logic and good conscience, the administration on April 26 canceled Temporary Protected Status for one more nation, Nepal, that is unprepared to accept the return of its citizens after a disaster. The decision to end TPS in June 2019 came a day after the third anniversary of a 7.8 magnitude earthquake that crippled the country.

"This is unconscionable," said Jeanne Atkinson, executive director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. "It's only been three years since the catastrophic 2015 earthquake that leveled neighborhoods and entire villages across Nepal and cost 9,000 people their lives. By the Nepali government's own report, the massive undertaking of rebuilding the lost public and private infrastructure, including 750,000 homes, 4,000 government buildings, 900 health care facilities and more is really just beginning. There is not sufficient water, food, health care or sanitation for Nepalis in Nepal, let alone to accommodate another 9,000 TPS holders and their families."

Earlier in April, CLINIC, in partnership with Adhikaar, a New York-based Nepali advocacy organization, released a report, Rebuilding from Rubble: Why TPS is needed for Nepal, detailing the reasons why an extension of TPS was warranted under the law and the consequences for TPS holders, Nepal and regional security under a termination.

"The facts in the case of Nepal are crystal clear and under the law, the administration was compelled to extend TPS," said Jill Marie Bussey, CLINIC's advocacy director. "A termination of TPS for Nepal instead of extension leads us to conclude that this outcome, like the TPS decisions before it, isn't based on the law. Nor is it based on protecting American families or our economy or regional security. This is part of the administration's political agenda to end humanitarian immigration."

Pabitra Khati Benjamin, executive director of Adhikaar, said in a statement: "Terminating TPS for Nepal is not just wrong but immoral. It is clear that in the three years since the earthquake, Nepal is still very much in recovery mode. Less than 13.3% 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."

Bussey added: "Congress needs to hold the administration accountable for following the law that they put in place to protect vulnerable people. And Congress must legislatively fix the harm the administration has done."