Court says US can end Honduran, Nicaraguan, Nepalese migrant protections

A US appeals court on Monday opened the door for deportations of migrants from Honduras, Nepal and Nicaragua with legal protections to live in the United States.

The Trump administration moved last year to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for tens of thousands of Honduran, Nepalese and Nicaraguan nationals, which had allowed them to live in the United States.

A federal judge had vacated the order, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order Monday to allow the government to proceed with deportations while appealing that decision.

TPS allows narrow groups of people to live and work in the US if they're deemed to be in danger if they return to their home countries, because of war, natural disaster or other extraordinary circumstances.

The previous court's "order vacating the termination of TPS for Nepal, Honduras and Nicaragua is stayed pending appeal," Monday's decision read.

TPS had applied to more than 51,000 Hondurans and 3,000 Nicaraguans who came to the United States after Hurricane Mitch devastated the Central American nations in 1998.

Around 7,000 Nepalese have TPS protection following a 2015 earthquake in the Asian nation.

Historically presidents have continued to renew TPS status for immigrants rather than revoking it and rendering them undocumented.

But Trump has vowed a mass deportation campaign, with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem saying Monday that "TPS was never designed to be permanent."

In stripping TPS, the Department of Homeland Security has said it was doing so because conditions have improved in those countries to the point where their nationals can return home safely.