New York, United States
Two Democratic senators again introduced a bill on Monday that would give permanent legal residency and a path to citizenship to thousands of beneficiaries of Temporary Protection Status (TPS), who fear being deported to countries from which they fled.
“There is a huge cost of uncertainty in families, both adults and children, a high price that is paid for not knowing what to expect in the future,” the senator said in a press conference Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland.
The TPS has given a temporary legal residence that now, according to the National Forum of immigration, Includes more than 400,000 people from a dozen countries and who came to the United States escaping natural disasters or violence and persecution.
The largest groups in the program include about 247,700 Salvadorans, 79,400 Hondurans, 55,350 Haitians, 14,550 Nepalese, and nearly 7,000 Syrians. Other countries currently designated by TPS are Nicaragua, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan.
The United States Government designates the countries accepted for the TPS and renews these designations every six to 18 months. The designation of the countries is temporary and in many cases expires next December.
In September 2020, a federal appeals court ruled in favor of the government of then-President Donald Trump, contradicting a previous court order that had prevented the appointments from being canceled. TPS of El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Sudan. The same order had prevented the termination of the designations TPS of Honduras and Nepal.
As a result, the beneficiaries of TPS they now face uncertainty awaiting court hearings on the program.
The bill entitled “Context of protection of countries under repression and emergency” (Secure, in English) originally entered the Senate, in those days with a Republican majority, in March 2019 and submitted to the Judicial Committee , but did not reach a vote in the plenary of the legislature.
permanent status
“The beneficiaries of TPS have been here, legally, many of them for decades. They are our neighbors, friends, they are merchants rooted in their communities. And many of them are at the forefront of the fight against coronavirus.” , said Van Hollen.
“The least we can do is give them the certainty of a permanent status,” added Van Hollen, who co-sponsors the legislation with his Maryland colleague Ben Cardin. The initiative has the auspices of another 20 senators, according to Van Hollen.
Cardin noted that “there are now favorable circumstances” for the legislation when Democrats have a majority in the Senate and President Joe Biden has promised a “fair and humane” immigration policy.
“The beneficiaries of the TPS they came to this country legally, and are here because of fears for their safety in their countries. They have families in the United States, some of their children are American citizens and we need to keep the families together, ”Cardin said.
The two senators stressed the importance of moving from a TPS subject to changing decisions through executive policies to a framework of legislation that makes permanent residency bequeathed and opens a path for citizenship for their beneficiaries.
the TPS program for El Salvador began in March 2001 after earthquakes took place in January and February of this year in the Central American country, and the one in Haiti began in July 2011 in response to an earthquake the previous year.
For its part the Honduras GST and that of Nicaragua began in January 1999 by providing shelter to those affected by Hurricane Mitch in November of the previous year.