Maryland Joins Legal Push to Preserve Immigrant Protections for Over 60,000 TPS Holders from Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua

Per a press release from the Maryland Office of the Attorney General, the state has joined 14 others in filing a legal brief to stop the federal government from ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for immigrants from Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua. If the court does not intervene, thousands of residents—many of whom have lived in the U.S. for decades—could face forced deportation and family separation.

The TPS program, enacted by Congress in 1990, shields immigrants from being returned to countries that are experiencing humanitarian crises or instability. Under recent actions taken by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), led by Secretary Kristi Noem under the Trump administration, TPS designations for Nepal, Honduras, and Nicaragua have been slated for termination. These decisions would revoke legal status from over 60,000 individuals, including 7,200 Nepalis, 51,000 Hondurans, and 2,900 Nicaraguans—many of whom have lived and worked in the U.S. for more than a decade, some as long as 25 years.

The potential impact extends beyond the individuals directly affected. According to data cited by the attorneys general, more than 100,000 U.S. citizens live in households with TPS holders from these three nations. If the terminations proceed, families could be forced to make painful decisions—whether to split up, relocate to unstable conditions abroad, or remain in the U.S. without legal protections and work authorization. These outcomes could deeply disrupt community life, especially in states like Maryland that are home to large populations of TPS recipients.

In their court filing, the attorneys general are seeking preliminary relief to halt the DHS terminations while legal proceedings continue. Joining Maryland Attorney General Brown in this action are counterparts from California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and the District of Columbia.

Article by multiple contributors, based upon information from the Maryland Office of the Attorney General press release.

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