Congress established Temporary Protected Status (TPS) more than 30 years ago to address exactly the sort of situation that is playing out in Ukraine today. An estimated 30,000 Ukrainian citizens are believed to be in the United States on some sort of temporary visa, or here illegally. A percentage of those Ukrainians may want to get home right now to join the resistance to Russia’s military invasion and subjugation of their homeland, or to be with their families in a time of crisis.
Congress established Temporary Protected Status (TPS) more than 30 years ago to address exactly the sort of situation that is playing out in Ukraine today. An estimated 30,000 Ukrainian citizens are believed to be in the United States on some sort of temporary visa, or here illegally. A percentage of those Ukrainians may want to get home right now to join the resistance to Russia’s military invasion and subjugation of their homeland, or to be with their families in a time of crisis.
Tucked away near the end of his long, rambling State of the Union address, President Joe Biden spoke of the “need to secure the border” and added a few vague remarks about “fix[ing] the immigration system.” It is probably a topic he would have preferred to avoid altogether, because talking about it only reminded the American public (momentarily distracted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and raging inflation) of how disastrous his border and immigration policies have been.
The $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill that will fund the federal government through the end of the fiscal year was approved with bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress and then signed by President Joe Biden. With a war raging in Europe and inflation raging at home, the American public can take some reassurance in the fact that Democrats and Republicans managed to approve the spending package without even the threat of a government shutdown.
The Biden administration is reportedly planning to end a Trump-era rule that used COVID-19 as a means to curb illegal immigration. Title 42 is a little-known public health provision invoked by the Trump administration in March 2020 which allowed the U.S. to promptly remove migrants caught crossing the border illegally to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. In February, 55 percent of the 164,973 migrants apprehended by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) were removed under Title 42.
In the face of an unprecedented wave of illegal migration unleashed by the Biden administration, the Florida Legislature is poised to enact legislation aimed at deterring migrants from taking up residence in the Sunshine State. Curbing illegal immigration was a key promise Gov. Ron DeSantis made to voters last year, who rewarded him with a landslide reelection victory in November.