The Department of Homeland Security said it will terminate the long-standing Temporary Protected Status programs for more than 70,000 Honduran and Nicaraguan immigrants in early September.

The move will pave the way for thousands of immigrants enrolled in the program to be targeted for deportation unless they have other means to stay in the United States. Around 72,000 Hondurans and 4,000 Nicaraguans have work permits and deportation protections under the TPS policy.

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Most immigrants with TPS status from these two countries arrived in the U.S. in the 1990s after Hurricane Mitch devastated parts of Central America. The TPS policy has been used since it was established by Congress in 1990 to give migrants a temporary safe haven if their home country is deemed too dangerous due to war, other violent conflict, or natural disaster.

The program was expanded under the Biden administration, allowing thousands of immigrants, mainly from Haiti and Venezuela, to apply for TPS.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem argued that TPS for Honduras and Nicaragua was no longer warranted.

“Temporary Protected Status, as the name itself makes clear, is an inherently temporary status,” both termination notices said.

“The impacts of a natural disaster impacting Nicaragua in 1999 no longer exist,” a DHS spokesperson said. “The environmental situation has improved enough that it is safe enough for Nicaraguan citizens to return home. This decision restores integrity in our immigration system and ensures that TPS remains temporary.”

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In addition to Honduras and Nicaragua, the Trump administration has moved to end TPS programs for hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Haiti, Nepal, and Venezuela.

The administration has faced some setbacks in court, as a district judge blocked the government’s effort to remove Haitians’ TPS status. However, the Supreme Court ruled that the administration could end TPS status for thousands of Venezuelans.