Today is Yom Kippur, when Jewish people, in public and private confession, recall our misdeeds and apologize to those we’ve harmed through words, actions, and inactions. During the days leading to Yom Kippur, I’ve thought about the flood of cruelty that continues to be visited upon our immigrant neighbors. How do I apologize for the times I remained silent in the face of so much devastating brutality?
I recently watched a documentary about Temporary Protected Status (TPS), featuring immigrants who fled countries too dangerous to live in and their children born here, terrified of losing their parents. They survived treacherous conditions, such as civil war in El Salvador, gang violence in Haiti, war in Ukraine, floods, earthquakes, disasters followed by more disasters. All experienced continuous trauma. Some witnessed loved ones raped and murdered. Infrastructure decimated. Families tried to survive in countries with no futures.
Arguably, the United States helped ignite violence in countries like Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and others. Yet, America still found its heart when President George H.W. Bush signed the Immigration Act of 1990, which provided Temporary Protected Status for those fleeing life-threatening conditions due to armed conflict, environmental disaster, or other extreme situations and who were ineligible for programs requiring proof of targeted persecution.
In 2025, 1.3 million people from 17 countries were residing in the U.S. with Temporary Protected Status. The carefully vetted recipients have no legal path to citizenship. Many have been here for decades. Their status is reviewed every 18 months. They work hard and contribute positively to the country that has protected them from deportation. They married, bore children who were U.S. citizens, settled into neighborhoods to raise their families, feeling pride, as their offspring graduate to pursue their own dreams of college and careers. Many are living the proverbial “American Dream,” far from the life-threatening circumstances that caused them to flee all that was once home. They succeeded in spite of their trauma. They learned English, opened businesses, and were respected in their communities. Life in America became normalized. “Temporary” took a back seat for those whose day-to-day lives really weren’t that different from their American neighbors.
Enter Donald Trump 2.0, with his MAGA administration, legislators, and Supreme Court Justices, determined to realize a white nationalist vision of America. Taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars fill the coffers of the MAGA regime with billions to recruit an army of poorly vetted and untrained masked thugs, empowered to use whatever it takes to arrest thousands of immigrants, mostly with dark skin, including those with Temporary Protected Status.
Since his first term, Donald Trump has been chomping at the bit to end TPS. On June 25, 2026, The Supreme Court granted his wish with Mullin v. Doe. The administration is required to review conditions in TPS countries to determine whether it’s safe for TPS recipients to return to their homelands. Mullin v. Doe prevents the courts from reviewing decisions to terminate TPS, ends work authorizations and allows for imminent deportations of those living with TPS status. Six justices gave their OK to pull the rug out from under the feet of people whose lives had been spared by a country that had once recognized their humanity. Parents can imminently be deported back to potentially deadly conditions in countries like Haiti, South Sudan, Burma, and Somalia. Places where the State Department has advised Americans to avoid have been OK’d for deporting those with TPS status.
Imagine the excruciating decisions that the parents of some 360,000 children born on American soil are being forced to make. Will they abandon their American citizen children to keep them safe? Or will they keep their family together, exposing their beloved offspring to unsafe conditions in a foreign country? If they leave them behind, who will care for them? Without the ability to work, how will those with TPS survive? Is this how we treat people who have contributed billions of dollars to our economy, who have paid billions in taxes, including Social Security?
Thus far, the administration has terminated TPS for Somalia, South Sudan, Haiti, Syria, Ethiopia, Burma, Yemen, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. El Salvador’s TPS determination was supposed to expire on Sept. 9, but 170,000 Salvadorans have been told that the announcement “will be made at the appropriate time.”
The Haitian residents of Springfield, Ohio have long been subjected to Trump’s baseless accusations that they eat dogs and cats. Having lost their TPS in June, after reporting to their designated ICE office, they have had to turn in their passports and immigration documents, must wear an electronic ankle bracelet, and are forbidden from going beyond a 75-mile radius without permission. Such indignities visited on human beings who have committed no crimes are cruel and sadistic. Twenty-year-old Haitian college student Damas Bell, responding to unbearable shame he felt after immigration officials forced him to wear an ankle monitor, died by suicide.
Some justify ending TPS, claiming it has always been designated as a temporary status. Using such black-and-white thinking to justify the immorality of tearing families apart, uprooting innocent people, taking away their livelihood, and sending them back to live without a future can’t be justified.
During this season of self-reflection, I struggle to figure out how I can use my voice to seek justice for those stripped of their moral right to remain in this country. Citizens and legislators in Springfield, Ohio, stood in support of their Haitian neighbors. As a Jew, I have learned the devastating human cost of remaining silent in the face of evil. My tradition teaches me to protect the stranger. May our moral compasses, guided by love, lead us all on a path of action.
Sara Weinberger lives in Easthampton.