US ends temporary protection for Syrians, orders departures within 60 days

The United States has ended the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for Syria, warning Syrian migrants they face arrest and deportation if they do not leave within 60 days, Al Jazeera reported.

The decision, announced on Friday, is part of US President Donald Trump's broader effort to strip legal status from migrants. According to a Federal Register notice, it will end TPS protections for more than 6,000 Syrians who have had the designation since 2012.

"Conditions in Syria no longer prevent their nationals from returning home," Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. "Syria has been a hotbed of terrorism and extremism for nearly two decades, and it is contrary to our national interest to allow Syrians to remain in our country."

Al Jazeera reported that the statement gave Syrian nationals 60 days to voluntarily leave the US and return home. "After the 60 days have expired, any Syrian national admitted under TPS who have not begun their voluntary removal proceedings will be subject to arrest and deportation," the statement added.

Trump, a Republican, has repeatedly sought to roll back protections for hundreds of thousands of migrants, including many who have lived and worked legally in the US for decades. His administration has argued that TPS was overused in the past and that large groups of migrants no longer qualify for protection, according to Al Jazeera. 

Democrats and migrant rights advocates have criticised the move, saying it will force vulnerable people to return to unsafe conditions while undermining US employers who rely on their labour.

Al Jazeera noted that Trump had previously ended TPS for Venezuelans, Hondurans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, Ukrainians and several other groups, part of a larger policy shift aimed at tightening immigration laws and deportation standards.