Temporary Protected Status (TPS) – Honduras
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) – Honduras
Hurricane Mitch killed 10,000 people in Honduras in October 1998, and thats why 57,000 Hondurans have temporary immigration status in the United States today. But heres what nobody tells you — this “temporary” protection has been renewed every 18 months for 25 years, creating a permanent underclass of people who cant leave the country, cant become citizens, and cant plan their lives beyond the next renewal deadline. The Department of Homeland Security designated Honduras for TPS on January 5, 1999, because the hurricane destroyed 70% of the countrys infrastructure, washed away entire villages, and left 1.5 million people homeless. The original designation was supposed to last 18 months while Honduras rebuilt. But Honduras never rebuilt — the same bridges that collapsed in 1998 are still gone, the same hospitals that flooded were never replaced, and the poverty that existed before Mitch got worse, not better.
Nobody talks about the real numbers because theyre embarrassing for everyone involved. USCIS says 57,000 Hondurans have TPS, but immigration advocates estimate another 80,000 are eligible but havent registered because they’re scared, cant afford the fees, or dont know they qualify. Each re-registration costs $545 — multiply that by 57,000 people every 18 months and youre looking at $31 million in fees just to maintain the same temporary status. And thats not counting the work permit fees, the biometric fees, the lawyer fees if you can afford one. Most TPS holders work in construction, restaurants, cleaning services — jobs that dont pay enough to easily absorb a $545 hit every year and a half. Some families have to choose between re-registering dad or paying rent. Some choose rent and become undocumented overnight.
The work authorization cards are their own special nightmare.
Your EAD expires on a specific date, but USCIS takes 8-10 months to process renewals now. So you file your I-765 renewal application in January for a card that expires in September, and if youre lucky you get the new card by November. Thats two months where youre technically authorized to work but your physical card says expired. Try explaining that to your employer. Try explaining that to the HR department at a construction company that doesnt want ICE problems. Most employers just fire you when the card expires, even though the law says they shouldnt. Then you lose your health insurance, cant pay rent, and when the new card finally arrives, you have to start over at a new job for less money.Even worse is when USCIS issues automatic extensions — they’ll announce that all EADs are extended for 180 days, but they dont send you a new card with the new date. You have to carry around a printout from the USCIS website that most employers have never seen and dont trust.
The criminal bars for TPS are stricter than most people realize, and lawyers who dont specialize in immigration miss them all the time. One felony conviction makes you ineligible — everybody knows that. But two misdemeanors also make you ineligible, and USCIS counts every conviction, even if they happened on the same day. Got caught with weed twice in college? Youre barred. Two disorderly conduct charges from bar fights ten years apart? Barred. And heres the trap — a DUI counts as a crime involving moral turpitude if anyone was injured, even minor injuries. Your passenger had a bruised arm? Thats moral turpitude. The other driver went to the hospital for observation? Moral turpitude. Gang allegations are even worse. You dont need a conviction — just an allegation in a police report that youre gang-affiliated bars you from TPS. Maybe you wore the wrong color shirt in the wrong neighborhood. Maybe your cousin is in MS-13 and you gave him a ride once. Maybe a cop thought your tattoo looked suspicious. Doesnt matter — once its in the system, youre done.
Re-registration every 18 months is designed to make people fail. The window is usually 60 days, and if you miss it by even one day, you lose status permanently. No exceptions, no excuses, no late filings. USCIS sends the instructions to whatever address they have on file — if you moved and forgot to update your address, too bad. If your landlord threw away the mail, too bad. If you were in the hospital, too bad. And the forms have to be perfect. Wrong font? Rejected. Used blue ink instead of black? Rejected. Forgot to sign page 7 of the I-821? Rejected. Send a money order for $544 instead of $545? Rejected, and good luck getting your money back.The worst part is that USCIS changes the forms constantly but doesnt accept old versions. You download the I-821 in January, fill it out, mail it in February, and they reject it in March because they updated the form version in February. Now youve missed the deadline and youre undocumented.
Travel authorization for TPS holders is a sick joke that destroys families. You need to file Form I-131 for advance parole if you want to leave the country — even for emergencies. Your mother is dying in Tegucigalpa? File the form, pay $575, wait 6-8 months, hope they approve it. By the time you get approved, shes dead. But if you leave without the paper, you lose TPS forever. Even with advance parole, returning is terrifying. CBP officers at the airport treat you like a criminal. Secondary inspection for hours. Questions about why you really went to Honduras. Accusations that you abandoned your TPS by visiting the country youre supposedly scared to return to. Some people get their TPS terminated at the airport even with valid advance parole. The officer decides you dont deserve protection anymore because you voluntarily returned to Honduras, even if it was for a funeral.And CBP shares everything with ICE, so if you said something wrong during questioning, ICE might be waiting at your house when you get home.
Nobody prepares TPS families for what happens when kids turn 18 or 21.
Your US citizen children cant petition for you until theyre 21, and even then the wait is 15-20 years because youre probably not in lawful status. Your kids who were born in Honduras and brought here as babies dont get TPS automatically — they have to qualify on their own. If they turned 18 before the last re-registration period, theyre out of luck. They age out and become undocumented while living in the same house as their TPS parents. DACA might help, but TPS kids often dont qualify because they arrived after the cutoff date or cant prove continuous presence. Universities dont understand TPS for financial aid. Some treat it like lawful status, some dont. In-state tuition depends on the state. Scholarships depends on who’s giving them. Most TPS kids find out they cant afford college when theyre filling out applications senior year.Then they graduate high school with no status, no work permit, no future. Their parents have TPS but cant help them. Its a special kind of cruelty.
The political game around TPS termination has been torture for 25 years. Every president threatens to end it, courts block it,Congress does nothing. Trump tried to terminate Honduras TPS in 2018, saying the country had recovered from Hurricane Mitch. Federal courts blocked it, saying DHS didnt consider current country conditions like the murder rate, poverty, and new hurricanes. Biden extended it through 2025, but what happens after that? Nobody knows. The infrastructure still hasnt been rebuilt from Mitch. Gang violence is worse than ever. Climate change brings new disasters every year. But legally, TPS cant last forever.Meanwhile, 57,000 people cant make plans beyond the next renewal. Cant buy houses because banks wont give mortgages to people with 18-month work permits. Cant invest in businesses because they might be deported next year. Cant visit dying parents because they might not get back in. Just existing in limbo, paying fees, hoping the next president doesnt hate them.
Converting TPS to permanent residence is nearly impossible, and lawyers who promise otherwise are lying. Family petitions take 20+ years if youre lucky enough to have a US citizen child or sibling. Employment sponsorship requires skills most TPS holders dont have and employers willing to wait years and pay thousands in legal fees. Marriage to a US citizen works, but USCIS scrutinizes every TPS marriage for fraud. They assume youre desperate to stay and will marry anyone. The interviews are brutal — separate questioning, demands for proof of shared finances, accusations that its a sham. Even real marriages fall apart under that pressure. The only reliable path is if Congress passes legislation specifically for TPS holders, which theyve been promising since 2001.The Dream Act, comprehensive immigration reform, TPS adjustment bills, — they all die in committee while people wait and hope and pay renewal fees.
At Spodek Law Group, we’ve handled hundreds of TPS cases and seen every possible disaster. We know which criminal convictions are waivable and which arent. We know how to fight CBP when they try to terminate status at the airport. We know how to document emergencies for travel authorization and how to challenge wrongful denials. Most importantly, we tell clients the truth — TPS is not a path to citizenship, its a temporary band-aid that Congress keeps reapplying because they’re too cowardly to fix the real problem. If you have TPS and get arrested, call us immediately. If you need to travel for an emergency, call us before you buy the ticket. If you missed a deadline or got a denial, we might be able to fix it, but only if you act fast. Because with TPS, tomorrow is never guaranteed, and one mistake can destroy 25 years of building a life in America.