RCUSA Dismayed by Administration’s Indefensible Decision to Terminate
Temporary Protected Status for Nicaragua
Urges Congress to Enact Legislation Protecting Long-time TPS Holders
WASHINGTON, DC – Refugee Council USA (RCUSA) opposes the decision to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 2,250 Nicaraguans, many of whom have lived here lawfully for years and have established deep roots in the United States. RCUSA is also concerned with the Administration’s decision to only grant 12-months for Nicaraguans to leave the United States and its decision to take an additional six-months to deliberate whether to extend TPS for Hondurans.
RCUSA demands that the Administration and Congress act decisively to create a mechanism to provide these individuals from Nicaragua and Honduras and other long-time TPS populations such as Salvadorans and Haitians with permanent protection in the United States.
TPS is a renewable legal status authorized by Congress that was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush in 1990. To protect them from dangers in their home countries, including armed conflict, environmental disasters, or other extraordinary conditions. TPS holders receive work permits and protection from deportation.
Many TPS holders from Honduras and El Salvador have brought their children, who have fled gang violence in Central America to safety in the United States through the Central American Minors (CAM) program. If these TPS holders lose their status and are deported, their children will be without a parent and end up in the U.S. foster care system. We must protect family unity for these children who have already endured so much.
RCUSA Chair Hans Van de Weerd said, “TPS protects people from great harm, such as armed conflict or natural disasters. As the United States exercises its international and regional humanitarian leadership by providing this protection, TPS holders become self-sufficient and play vital roles in the U.S. economy and simultaneously send home money that stabilizes life for their family members who remain in their countries of origin.
TPS, is a powerful component of US foreign policy and humanitarian leadership in maintaining regional stability. Allowing long-time TPS holders to remain in the United States and earn a path to citizenship honors closely held American values to uphold the rights and dignity of all people.”
RCUSA demands that the Administration extend Temporary Protected Status for TPS holders from these three countries, and urges Congress to pass bipartisan legislation that would provide a humanitarian solution for both current and former long-time TPS holders who remain in the United States. This solution should include an orderly pathway to lawful permanent residence and eventually citizenship.
Contact: RCUSA Associate Director, Danielle Grigsby, dgrigsby@rcusa.org