Trump officials reportedly ignored warnings against expelling 300,000 immigrants

Rex Tillerson.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson ignored the advice of senior U.S. diplomats and urged the Department of Homeland Security to end protections for 300,000 Central Americans and Haitians living under temporary protected status (TPS), current and former State Department officials told The Washington Post.

In cables, the diplomats said they were strongly opposed to ending the immigrants' TPS, because sending an influx of people back to those areas could lead to destabilization and launch a surge in new illegal immigration, the Post reports. Congress established TPS in 1990 with the goal of preventing the deportation of people from countries that are reeling from violence or natural disasters.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.