Trump’s DHS claims Nicaragua, Honduras are thriving, like Venezuela. Seriously? | Opinion
The Trump administration’s political hypocrisy seems to have no limit: Just weeks after it made the ridiculous claim that it can safely deport more than 500,000 Venezuelans because conditions in their country have “notably improved,” it now says it can expel about 80,000 Nicaraguans and Hondurans for the same reasons.
Judging from the Department of Homeland Security’s official document explaining its July 7 decision to revoke the Temporary Protection Status (TPS) shielding Nicaraguans and Hondurans from deportation, you’d think that these countries have become economic miracles and wonderful places to live in.
As I was reading the document, I thought it was referring to Switzerland.
“Nicaragua has become a worldwide tourism destination, while also promoting sustainability and revitalizing local communities,” the DHS document says.”Technical innovation is empowering farmers and fishers, making the agriculture [sic] more competitive and profitable.”
Nicaragua “continues to show stable macroeconomic fundamentals,” supposedly eliminating the economic distress that justified TPS protections, the administration argues.
Honduras, too, has made “significant progress” since Hurricane Mitch destroyed much of the country in 1998, “and is now a popular tourism and real estate investment destination,” DHS claims.
Before you decide to pack your bags for Nicaragua or Honduras, you may want to check what other U.S. government websites say. Nicaragua, for instance, is described as one of the poorest countries in the world, and as a brutal dictatorship.
The U.S. State Department’s travel advisory for Nicaragua urges travelers to “reconsider” visits there, citing “arbitrary enforcement of laws, the risk of wrongful detention and limited healthcare availability.”
A separate 2024 fact sheet on Nicaragua from the U.S. International Trade Administration says, “the regime’s authoritarian crackdown has undermined democracy, reduced consumer purchasing power, and eroded investor confidence.” Hardly the paradise described by the Trump administration now to justify its mass deportations.
Most Honduran and Nicaraguan TPS holders have been living legally in the United States for 26 years, immigration lawyers say. Some came as infants, grew up American and don’t even speak Spanish.
The pro-immigrant National TPS Alliance and seven individuals have sued to block the administration’s move, but it’s unclear if they’ll win. The Supreme Court recently let TPS revocations for 350,000 Venezuelans proceed temporarily, but hasn’t yet ruled on the core issue of whether Trump’s TPS revocations are legal.
“I’ve been in the United States since I was three years old,” said plaintiff Jhony Silva on the TPS Alliance website. “I work in a hospital, caring for cardiac patients. I’ve been doing it the “right way” the whole time. Now, I am facing losing my job, the ability to care for my family and the only home I’ve ever known.”
The Trump administration’s rationale for deporting Hondurans and Nicaraguans — that conditions have improved — is the same one it used recently to justify the mass deportations of Venezuelans.
A Feb. 5 DHS document claims “there are notable improvements in several areas such as the economy, public health and crime” in Venezuela, supposedly making it safe for return.
That’s ridiculous. Even U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on his X social media account May 6 that Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro’s “illegitimate regime has undermined Venezuela’s institutions, violated human rights, and endangered our regional security.”
More than 8 million Venezuelans have fled the country in recent years. Crime is soaring, and inflation is projected to top 100% this year.
To its credit, the administration has ramped up economic sanctions on the Venezuelan and Nicaraguan dictatorships. But I wonder whether it’s doing it halfway, to appease Miami’s exile community. Many exiles voted for Trump believing he would target only violent criminals — not all TPS holders.
Every country has the right to deport people convicted for serious crimes. But does it makes sense to deport immigrants who were legally in the country, working in construction, agriculture and doing other jobs that most Americans don’t want to do?
Deporting Venezuelan, Nicaraguan, Honduran and other TPS holders is cruel, and economically counter-productive. The Supreme Court should stop this madness before it destroys the lives of even more good, hard-working people.
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This story was originally published July 9, 2025 at 1:09 PM.
