Advocates urged for the renewal of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) at the Make The Road New York office in Brentwood this morning.
With the deadline soon approaching to renew the program for more than 60,000 Nicaraguans and Hondurans, the Department of Homeland Security was expected to make a decision on Monday with no further details released. As of publication, no decision has been made.
A similar decision is soon expected for El Salvador and Haiti, as well.
Despite the onslaught of natural disasters in Haiti, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson advised the Department of Homeland Security on Friday that Haitians and Central Americans in the U.S. no longer need protection from deportation.
Amie Ravitz, Long Island Director of 32BJ SEIU, called the State Department’s report “completely out of touch with the conditions in those countries.”
“No one can speak to that better than our members who still have family there, who have built lives here, specifically because of the conditions in those countries that continue, and in some cases, have worsened,” Ravitz said.
Rosa Aviles, a 17-year TPS recipient from El Salvador and 32BJ SEIU member, said her entire family is here now.
“If I were to go back to my country, I would have to start from zero because everyone from my family is here,” she said through a translator.
The Trump administration appears bent on ending these programs for our immigrant communities, which would lead to incalculable consequences for tens of thousands.
Executive director of Long Island Wins, Maryann Slutsky, said despite President Donald Trump’s stated goal of reducing the undocumented population, he is only adding to it, which will lead to “devastating effects” for both Long Island and the country as a whole.
“These individuals have, as we’ve been saying, have been here for at least two decades, working hard, contributing to our local economies, contributing to our communities. They have put down roots,” Slutsky said. “They’re mortgage holders, they own homes, they’re our friends, they’re our co-workers, they’re our classmates.”
