WASHINGTON – Jose Cabrera left his landscaping job to join three Latino Democratic senators at a news conference Wednesday in which he called on the Biden administration to renew protected status like his before President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House.
Cabrera, of Montgomery County, Maryland, has lived in the U.S. for more than 30 years and is protected from deportation and has work authorization. His homeland of El Salvador was deemed too risky to return, earning him the nomination Temporary protected statusor TPS.
He and other immigrants living legally in the United States fear that if they lose their protected status, they will be swept away as Trump follows through on his campaign promise of mass deportations.
Sense. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Alex Padilla of California and Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico are pushing the Biden administration to redesignate TPS for citizens of Nicaragua and El Salvador, as well as designate TPS for citizens of Ecuador.
TPS for El Salvador ends in March and TPS for Nicaragua ends in July, after Trump takes office on January 20.
“We know that the incoming administration will try to implement chaotic immigration policies that will tear our families apart,” Cortez Masto said.
Members of the Congressional Latino Caucus also stressed that the White House should direct the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s immigration agency to expedite applications for visa extensions for people covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
“It is time for this administration to ensure they can renew their DACA status now, before they become threatened by the Trump administration,” Cortez Masto said.
The White House could not immediately be reached for comment.
Threat of mass deportations
Senators stressed that the Biden administration should take action given Trump’s announcement of mass deportations targeting millions of immigrants without legal status. Deportations could easily include people with TPS if their status is not renewed.
TPS designations can last for six, 12 or 18 months before being renewed and cover more than 1 million immigrants. Status does not provide a path to citizenship.
So far, 17 countries have done so TPS marking and was used in cases such as Ukrainians fleeing the Russian-led war in Ukraine.
Andrea Flores, vice president of immigration policy and campaigns at the immigration advocacy group FWD.us, said Biden should operate TPS to protect people with that status from the incoming Trump administration.
During the first Trump administration, the former president tried to end TPS for Haiti, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Sudan, but courts blocked these attempts in 2018.
“These people will now lose their legal status in the next administration. These people will be subjected to mass deportations and will be returned to a country where persecution will be ensured,” Flores said.
Padilla and Luján emphasized that mass deportations would harm not only communities but also the American economy. U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee a consequences hearing was held on Tuesday mass deportations, during which Republicans have indicated they will continue rapidly once Trump takes office.
“Mass deportations will threaten the safety of millions of mixed-status families, sow deep (dis)trust and fear in the communities we represent, and will undoubtedly destabilize the U.S. economy,” Luján said.
There are approximately 4 million mixed-status families, that is, family members with different immigration statuses.
Padilla said everyone who has TPS and DACA works in indispensable U.S. industries.
“By taking away work permits from hundreds of thousands of workers, we are gutting our own workforce,” he said.
IF you do
Trump, who tried to end the DACA program during his first administration, said during a sit-down interview with NBC on Sunday that he would “work with Democrats on a plan” to keep those recipients in the U.S., but gave no details. details.
The program is currently awaiting a federal court decision decide on its legal fate.
Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, which, along with the state of New Jersey, is defending DACA in the courts, said Dreamers should continue to apply for an extension “and not be afraid of an extension.” “
“They should continue to seek renewal, perhaps even sooner than they might otherwise attempt to extend the period under which they are protected,” he said in an interview with States Newsroom.
Cortez Masto said she is always willing to work to protect Dreamers, but is skeptical of Trump’s comments.
“The last time he said that, and we presented him with a bipartisan bill to do something to protect our Dreamers, he killed it,” she said.
Cortez Masto was referring to a 2018 bipartisan agreement between Sen. Mike Rounds, a South Dakota Republican, and Maine Independent Angus King that would have provided DACA recipients with a path to citizenship along with funding for border wall construction.
“The government has all our information.”
Juliana Macedo do Nascimento, deputy director of federal counsel for the immigrant advocacy group United We Dream, told States Newsroom that she is concerned that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has access to information about DACA applicants through the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. that processes legal immigration documentation.
“We’re really concerned that ICE will just hand over a list of people that they can then go (and) knock on their doors,” she said.
Macedo do Nascimento, herself a DACA recipient, said her organization is asking the Biden administration to create a firewall between USCIS databases and DHS agencies such as ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
“The government has all our information,” she said. “They could potentially come for us at any time. This is the worst-case scenario.”
Last updated at 14:25, December 11, 2024
