Respond to prefers-color-scheme dark in app web views

Follow section front redirects in Spectrum

Enable NLP source in PCS for load testing

Switch off the News Alerts Survey Widget when we have enough responses

Poll to determine if new LUF updates are available

Allows the winning A/B test variant to be turned on without Spectrum deployment

Show infinite scrolling sections in Assembler MultiView

Show option for NLP article summaries in Action Bar

A general feature flag for Recipe Features that aren't yet released

Feature flag for media team features that aren't yet released

Use new Orca video player for preroll plugin in Spectrum

Show the snow tracker (instead of the heat tracker) on Spectrum

Wait, what is Stephen A. Smith talking about? Find out with our quiz.

Stephen A. Smith would like even more of your attention

Local sports networks go dark mid-game amid dispute with Comcast 

The 6 best things to do with kids in the D.C. area this weekend 

The 33 best things to do in D.C. this weekend and next week

Trevor Williams’s escape act helps Nationals blank Rangers 

NASA moon capsule suffered extensive damage during 2022 test flight

Russian state media ramping up English, Spanish presence on TikTok, study finds

Apple is behind in AI and killed its self-driving car project. What’s next?

What’s the best bus to New York? We tested 5 for comfort and value.

You asked: Do I need a passport for my cruise?

Adaptive equipment is making national parks more inclusive

Cat climbed into Amazon return box, found alive 630 miles away

Brave Little Hunter is free: Baby orca escapes lagoon for open seas

I learned to heal my sadness by cradling dying chickens 

This masterpiece ‘Birth of Venus’ probably isn’t of Venus at all

The beginner’s illustrated guide to watching an F1 race

Young Georgians want to be part of Europe. Their government is in the way.

On Press Freedom Day, little to celebrate for Hong Kong’s journalists

Taxes are inevitable. Paying to prepare them doesn’t have to be.

That time football legend, rig-driving eligible bachelor Biden was arrested

Trump and allies say Biden pays rent for ‘illegals’ in Michigan. Not true.

Eighty percent of Ukraine-Israel bill will be spent in U.S. or by U.S. military

Miss Manners: Offering my bedroom to guests

Ask Amy: My wife’s sister confessed her feelings for me

Carolyn Hax: Will request for a postnup offend much younger wife?

Chinese EVs are good for the world. Biden says they’re bad for America. 

Why the Solomon Islands election matters to China and the U.S.

Biden calls ally Japan ‘xenophobic’ like China, Russia, at campaign event

World Press Freedom Day, 2024

How Trump convinces Republicans to adopt extreme views

Campuses are grappling with the Gaza war. So are our columnists.

US President Joe Biden Departure

<i>John D. Feeley was U.S. ambassador to Panama from 2016 until March. James D. Nealon was U.S. ambassador to Honduras from 2014 to 2017.</i>


Thanks to President Trump’s <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/04/01/why-a-u-s-bound-caravan-of-central-american-migrants-is-getting-trumps-attention/?utm_term=.c29123b50271" >recent Twitter-trashing</a> of Honduran asylum seekers in a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/despite-trump-threats-us-officials-allow-caravan-members-to-seek-asylum/2018/05/01/5b173e6e-4cc8-11e8-85c1-9326c4511033_story.html?utm_term=.a7f963ea8daa"  title="www.washingtonpost.com">caravan</a> comprised of a few hundred desperate migrants, mainly women and young people, odds are that a good portion of Americans are at least aware of the hardship from which Hondurans immigrants have fled.

Less known, however, is that the Department of Homeland Security <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-administration-will-end-protections-for-50000-hondurans-living-in-us-since-1999/2018/05/04/c05c7676-4fc1-11e8-b966-bfb0da2dad62_story.html?utm_term=.f7de01e264aa" >recently terminated</a> the temporary protected status of 57,000 Hondurans living in the United States. Now these immigrants — all of whom have been in the United States since at least 1999, many much longer — must return to Honduras by Jan. 5, 2020.


These immigrants were legally permitted to stay in the United States under a status that four successive Republican and Democrat administrations chose to maintain over  14 <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/05/16/2016-11306/extension-of-the-designation-of-honduras-for-temporary-protected-status"  title="www.federalregister.gov">periodic reviews</a>, based on the conditions of underdevelopment, poverty and crime that still exist in Honduras.

By definition, these Hondurans are not criminals; felons are not eligible for TPS. Those with the status who commit serious crimes lose it and are placed in deportation proceedings — as any criminal migrant should be.

The Center for Migration Studies reports that <a href="http://cmsny.org/publications/jmhs-tps-elsalvador-honduras-haiti/" >85 percent</a>
 of the Honduran TPS beneficiaries work legally; much higher than the national average. No surprise there, since they came here to work. They are mainly construction workers, truck drivers, gardeners and child-care workers, hustling to make an average salary of $24,000 a year. The Center for American Progress and the Immigrant Legal Resource Center <a href="https://www.ilrc.org/sites/default/files/resources/2017-04-18_economic_contributions_by_salvadoran_honduran_and_haitian_tps_holders.pdf" >estimate</a> that losing these working Hondurans would result in a productivity loss of $11 billion in gross domestic product over the next decade. And their lost Social Security contributions would be more than $1.3 billion over 10 years.


Yet even if one ignores these economic contributions to our nation, think of this fact: They have an estimated 53,000 American citizen children who now face losing their law-abiding parents to deportation. Talk about unfair.

As former American ambassadors with long experience in Central America and with the TPS program, we have to ask: Why does the administration think this makes sense as an “America First” policy? Why would they take people who legally work, pay taxes, own homes, run businesses, employ others and obey the law, and shove them into the shadows?

The justifications for termination are twofold: The administration reminds us that temporary protected status was always meant to be temporary. It also argues that the original conditions for which TPS was granted — the devastating Hurricane Mitch in 1998 that killed more than 7,000 people in Honduras alone — no longer exist.

We understand how such arguments would make sense under a strict constructionist view. But that needs to be weighed against the reality that the pathologies underlying the hurricane’s aftermath — extreme violence, lack of economic opportunity and poor governance — are the same factors that today drive irregular migration such as the caravan to the United States.

The Trump administration’s decision also undermines the fact that the United States and Honduras are working closely together to stem these “push factors” of migration. A bipartisan consensus in Congress has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in assistance that has already had some major successes. Honduras’s murder rate, once the highest in the world at 86 per 100,000 (compared to five per 100,000 in the United States), <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-honduras-violence/honduras-murder-rate-fell-by-more-than-25-percent-in-2017-government-idUSKBN1ER1K9" >has dropped</a> to the low-40s per 100,000.


Through brave work by the Honduran attorney general, civil society and the international community, particularly the United States, Honduras is attempting to reduce corruption and impunity. And the <a href="https://www.cia.gov/Library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ho.html"  title="www.cia.gov">economy</a> is growing, though not nearly fast enough to provide work to those living in Honduras (never mind to those losing TPS status who will be forced to return).

Put yourself in their shoes. Would you voluntarily return to the still-troubled country you left two decades ago when you have been striving to live the American Dream? Neither would we. And, let’s face it. This isn’t who we are. We are a nation of immigrants, and it’s in our interest that we keep that dream alive for future generations.

Canceling TPS takes hard-working, legal immigrants and puts them in the shadows. It ensures that U.S. taxpayer assistance, designed to help Hondurans see their future in Honduras and not in the United States, works against itself. Trump’s U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, a daughter of Indian immigrants, recently visited Honduras and applauded the U.S. assistance programs designed to improve conditions there. When accused of “being a liberal,” she smiled and <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nikki-haley-on-trump-confusion-and-speaking-her-mind/"  title="www.cbsnews.com">said</a>, “I’m a conservative who understands that prevention saves us money in the long run.”

President Trump, you should listen to Ambassador Haley.

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trumps-crusade-against-immigrants-is-an-attack-on-america/2017/12/03/0ac43dec-d624-11e7-b62d-d9345ced896d_story.html?utm_term=.a156fb18d9a3"  title="www.washingtonpost.com">The Post’s View: Trump’s crusade against immigrants is an attack on America</a>


<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-trump-administrations-new-plan-to-punish-legal-immigrants/2018/05/05/6eb12522-4e51-11e8-af46-b1d6dc0d9bfe_story.html?utm_term=.ee4d66c055d5"  title="www.washingtonpost.com">The Post’s View: The Trump administration’s new plan to punish legal immigrants</a>


<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/without-immigration-america-will-stagnate/2018/01/28/e659aa94-02d5-11e8-8acf-ad2991367d9d_story.html?utm_term=.b331747cff27"  title="www.washingtonpost.com">Fred Hiatt: Anti-immigration Republicans have a decision to make about America’s future</a>


<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/what-makes-america-exceptional-is-immigration/2018/01/19/527a0178-fbc0-11e7-9b5d-bbf0da31214d_story.html?utm_term=.dc11019fbc39"  title="www.washingtonpost.com">Letters: What makes America exceptional is immigration</a>


<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/undocumented-and-disillusioned-i-decided-to-leave-america-this-loss-is-mutual/2018/01/25/a41fec10-f655-11e7-b34a-b85626af34ef_story.html?utm_term=.ac4b92c7c39a"  title="www.washingtonpost.com">Ariel Rodriguez: Undocumented and disillusioned, I decided to leave America. This loss is mutual.</a>


John D. Feeley

James D. Nealon

The Washington Post

Editorials

Columns

Guest opinions

Cartoons

Submit a guest opinion

Today's Opinions newsletter

Opinions

iptc-media/politics

iptc-media/society/values

iptc-media/politics/government_policy/migration_of_people

iptc-media/politics/political_process

iptc-media/politics/government

iptc-media/crime_law_and_justice/crime

iptc-media/society/values/ethics

iptc-media/society/demographics

iptc-media/society/demographics/immigration/emigrants

iptc-media/economy_business_and_finance/economy

iptc-media/politics/government_policy

iptc-media/society

iptc-media/society/demographics/immigration

iptc-media/economy_business_and_finance

iptc-media/crime_law_and_justice

iptc-media/crime_law_and_justice/law

client-blocklists/Client List: Morgan Stanley KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Amazon KWs - EXCLUDE ALL 

client-blocklists/Client List: Becton Dickinson KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

advertising/Client Topic: WebEx

client-blocklists/CLIENT LIST: Nomura KWs 2021 - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Boeing KWs 2021- INCLUDE ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Exxon Mobil  - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/GEICO KWs - INCLUDES ANY_4.26.21

client-blocklists/Client List: Microsoft KWs 2 - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: T. Rowe Price KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/T. Rowe Price KWs - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/B2_Automotive Interest 2.5.15_legacyaux_jqs

client-blocklists/HBO KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Ford/Lincoln KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/ExxonMobil 03312021 KWs - INCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Bank of America KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/WaPo: Combined Disaster Keyword List - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/B2_Collaboration and Teleconferencing_legacyaux_BI4

client-blocklists/Client List: Eli Lily KWs - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/B2_Corporate Responsibility_legacyaux_FTM

advertising/B2_Embassy, Ambassador, & Diplomat Content_legacyaux_1ho

client-blocklists/Client List: Purina KWs - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/Qualcomm Custom KW - 5G

advertising/Citrix Mindfulness

advertising/Racing and Nascar Enthusiasts

client-blocklists/BP KWs - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/B2_Liberal_legacyaux_1a5

advertising/B2_Politically Active - DO NOT REMOVE_legacyaux_lmp

advertising/B2_Politics_legacyaux_8f3

advertising/B2_Positive News_legacyaux_hlt

advertising/B2_STEM Enthusiasts_legacyaux_gx0

client-blocklists/Client List: GEICO KWs

client-blocklists/Client List: KPMG KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Siemens KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Cisco KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: AT&T ALT KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Mercedes KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/FX Excludes All Disney

client-blocklists/Client List: Inpixon KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Boeing KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Navy Federal Credit Union NFCU KWs 2 - INCLUDES ANY - 12.23.20

client-blocklists/Client List: Google KWs - INCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: AT&T KWs 2021 - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Philip Morris KWs - INCLUDES ANY 

client-blocklists/Dupixent neg kws - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Capital One KWs 2 - INCLUDES ANY - 1.4.21

client-blocklists/Bank of America Merrill Lynch KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Google PG KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Chase KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Office Depot KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: ETrade KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

Opinions to start the day, in your inbox. Sign up.

The Washington Post Opinions section features opinion articles, op-eds, editorials by the Editorial Board, global opinions and letters to the editor on the issues of the day. Offerings include columns by Washington Post opinion writers, political cartoons by editorial cartoonists Ann Telnaes and Michael de Adder and podcasts by James Hohmann and Jonathan Capehart.