Citing Significant Safety Concerns, RCUSA Requests the Administration Redesignate and Extend for 18-Months Life-Saving TPS for Syrians
Washington, DC – Syrians in the United States deserve Temporary Protected Status (TPS). The conditions that led the administration to first designate TPS for Syrians in 2012 continue to exist; the Syrian civil war is one of the deadliest conflicts in the 21st century.
Speaking on behalf of the coalition, Hans Van de Weerd, Chair of RCUSA and Vice President for US Programs at the International Rescue Committee, said, “Syria is widely considered the most acute humanitarian catastrophe of our time. The administration must redesignate and extend TPS for the thousands of Syrian TPS holders – without this protection, at least 5,800 Syrian TPS holders in the US would be forcibly returned to a country that reportedly used chemical weapons as recently as April 2017. Terminating or curtailing TPS protection would constitute an unconscionable humanitarian error.”
Recalling that the TPS program exists to protect people from being returned to harm, RCUSA implores the Administration to redesignate and extend TPS for Syrians for at least another 18-months.
Contact: Danielle Grigsby, RCUSA Associate Director, dgrigsby@rcusa.org