Mullin says TPS migrants can seek permanent status or leave with plane ticket, $2100

WASHINGTON, DC: Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said migrants living in the United States under Temporary Protected Status (TPS) should secure permanent legal status or leave the country after last week's Supreme Court ruling that cleared the way for the Trump administration to end protections for hundreds of thousands of people.

His remarks immediately underscored how the administration plans to use the court's decision to push affected migrants toward permanent residency or voluntary departure. The ruling places an estimated 356,000 Haitian and Syrian TPS holders at risk of losing protections from detention or deportation.

Markwayne Mullin outlines post-TPS ruling message

Speaking on CNN's State of the Union, Mullin said migrants should pursue a more permanent immigration pathway if they want to remain in the country.

"Either try to fill out the paperwork and be here under a permanent status, or we'll help you get back to your country," he said.

 He then described what the administration says it is prepared to offer those who choose to leave.

"We'll actually give you a plane ticket, plus roughly $2,100 to help you re-establish when you get there, but temporary protective status, according to the courts and in its name itself, is not permanent status," Mullin added.

Federal law allows administrations to grant Temporary Protected Status to people fleeing war, natural disasters or other extraordinary conditions. The United States first extended TPS to Haitians after the 2010 earthquake and Syrians after the civil war that erupted in 2012.

Supreme Court ruling affects Haitian, Syrian migrants

Thursday's Supreme Court decision could affect about 350,000 Haitians and roughly 6,000 Syrians whose humanitarian protections are now set to end.

The State Department currently continues to warn Americans against travel to both Haiti and Syria because of widespread violence, crime, te****ism, and ki**pping.

Haitian TPS holders and immigration advocates have sharply criticized the ruling, saying it threatens people who have lived and worked legally in the United States for years.

"For Springfield, it's going to hurt. When I came here, this area was dead. In this plaza, there are [now] seven Haitian businesses," Franky Pierre, a Haitian immigrant, told the Guardian after the ruling.

Pierre added, "All of these people are going to have to run away or go somewhere, which I'm pretty sure is going to start tonight," referring to TPS holders.

Republicans split over Haiti TPS decision

Not all Republicans backed the Supreme Court's decision.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine called the ruling "a mistake," saying, "The situation in Haiti could hardly be much worse. The violent gangs run most of the country. The government barely functions. And the economy is in shambles."

The Supreme Court's conservative majority concluded that Haitians challenging the administration were unlikely to succeed in arguing that the administration's actions were racially biased.

Other Republican lawmakers, including Mike Lawler of New York and Don Bacon of Nebraska, also argued that TPS protections for Haitian immigrants should be extended.