Trump's new wall: His push to oust legal U.S. residents

President Trump's plan to deport "millions" of immigrants has reached a critical point: Its success likely will depend not on removing criminals, but on telling people who are in the U.S. legally they're no longer welcome.Why it matters: For all the showy raids and tough talk, the largest targets in Trump's crackdown include immigrants who've had temporary protection to stay in the U.S. — more than 1.2 million people who fled wars, oppression, natural disasters, poverty and more.Zoom in: Under Joe Biden and previous presidents, the U.S. gave temporary protective status (TPS) to such immigrants, allowing them to stay in the U.S. and work for up to 18 months, which could be extended repeatedly.Trump's administration is allowing those TPS deals to expire — for more than 700,000 immigrants from Haiti, Venezuela, Afghanistan, Honduras and Nicaragua so far, with other countries' renewal deadlines looming. At the same time, Trump's team is going after what could be hundreds of thousands more immigrants who were given humanitarian "parole" under Biden — a chance to live and work in the U.S. for a certain period.In a growing number of parole cases, immigration judges are dismissing recipients' status hearings. The immigrants then are being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, and then put on a "fast track" for deportation without full court hearings.That maneuver is now being challenged in court by immigrant rights groups, which have derisively dubbed Trump's tactic as "Removalpalooza."Taken together, Trump's push against TPS deals and his attack on humanitarian programs are increasingly significant fronts of his immigration agenda — efforts that could deliver the big numbers of deportations he wants.The president's targeting of the programs — which expanded under Biden — is heating up even as polls indicate most Americans disapprove of Trump's strategies, and feel warmer toward immigration than they did when he took office.The programs "were never intended to be a path to permanent status or citizenship," White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement, adding the administration believes the programs were "abused" under Biden.Trump's attack on TPS In recent weeks, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has terminated protections for more than half the roughly 1.2 million immigrants in the TPS program. Among those affected:348,187 Haitians, who were allowed into the U.S. because of political instability, violence and human rights abuses in their country.348,187 Venezuelans, who fled Nicolás Maduro's dictatorship and its economic crisis.11,700 Afghans who would be at risk from that country's Taliban regime.Roughly 52,000 Hondurans and nearly 3,000 Nicaraguans have had protections since 1999 — the longest legal status under the TPS program — because of the fallout caused by Hurricane Mitch in 1998.Behind the numbers are tax-paying people who've made lives, families and careers in the U.S. — and have little idea where they'd turn if they were kicked out of this country.Several lawsuits are challenging the terminations of TSP protections for Venezuelan and Haitians, but the Immigration and Nationality Act gives U.S. officials wide latitude in TPS decisions, making legal challenges tough to win. What they're saying: "When I came over here, I was 19 years old, so it's been almost 30 years in America. I don't know much about Honduras," Francis Garcia, a TPS holder from Honduras who lives in Las Vegas, told Axios.Garcia worked at MGM casino and was in the local culinary union. She now works with the National TPS Alliance, advocating for TPS holders like herself.She has three adult kids, all U.S. citizens, and wants to stay with them here.Honduras' government isn't ready for the TPS program to end, said Leonardo Valenzuela Neda, the Honduran embassy's deputy chief of mission in the U.S., who spoke at an event hosted by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. "Even though our government is working very hard to improve conditions in our country, we're still not ready to receive more than 50,000 people that have been here for more than 25 years, and ... their families," he said."We're not asking for favors," he added. "These people are law-abiding citizens, they contribute to the U.S. economy in a very, very profound way."A TPS holder from Haiti who first came the U.S. on a student visa planned to return to their home country before Haiti's president was assassinated in 2021 and the government collapsed."I didn't come here illegally and I never stayed here illegally, and I'm not a criminal by any means," said the TPS holder, who asked not to be identified. "I had a job and was contributing to society and the community."As for Haitians returning home: "Many of those people do not have a home anymore, and if they do, it's probably controlled by gangs," the TPS holder said."If I need to go to Haiti, I would pray that I don't get shot."The other side: A Homeland Security press release said "the environmental situation in Haiti has improved enough that it is safe for Haitian citizens to return home" — though other government reports say the country remains dangerous and terrorized by violent gangs.Afghan nationals are losing their protections, DHS said, because the Taliban "is promoting tourism to shift its global image," including with "a year-over-year reduction in the use of improvised explosive devices by 72%."The legal battleThe administration's push for "fast-track" deportations is aimed partly at hundreds of thousands more immigrants who are in the U.S. on humanitarian "parole," a different designation than TPS.Immigrants with humanitarian relief are from several of the TPS holders' countries, plus thousands of Cubans who fled that nation's communist dictatorship, Afghans who assisted the U.S. military in that country, some refugees from Ukraine and undocumented family members of U.S. military personnel, among others.Under Trump's expedited removals, such immigrants could lose their protections and be denied the opportunity to appear before a judge. They also could have limited time to gather evidence to support their claims to stay in the U.S., and might lack access to legal counsel.Zoom out: The immigration rights groups challenging the expedited removals in a D.C. court are "trying to limit the amount of people who can be deported without due process," Karen Tumlin, director of Justice Action Center, told Axios.The other side: Jackson told Axios the changes are part of Trump's promise "to restore sanity to America's immigration system."

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