Sometimes we see clients who come from countries so dangerous that the Department of Homeland Security has designated them for Temporary Protected Status. That means that nationals of that country in the United States will not be removed as long as current conditions — usually armed conflicts or extreme natural disasters — persist. Every 18 months or so, DHS reconsiders the situation and redesignates for another 18 months if conditions have not improved.

TPS designations only protect people who were in the country as of a date prior to the DHS designation. That’s because DHS doesn’t want its TPS designation to invite a rush of new entrants from that country. That’s understandable.

But it’s heartbreaking when you sit across a table from someone who fled for their lives that incredibly dangerous country — after the “continuous residence” start date established for that country. Sometimes DHS has already started removal proceedings against the individual, preparing to send them back to a country that DHS itself has acknowledged as extraordinarily dangerous or devastated. As attorneys, our job is to explain the “continuous residence” and other eligibility requirements to someone whose life is at stake.

And, of course, we evaluate other possible pathways for immigration relief that they might qualify. Some options include asylum, U.S. citizen close relatives, or special protections for minors. We hope we find something.

Did Secretary Mayorkas “willfully and systematically refuse[] to comply with Federal immigration laws”? If he had, maybe I could go back to teaching Environmental Law. As it is, we’re staying pretty busy in the Immigration Law Clinic.