Crista Ramos is just 15-years-old. Like many high schoolers, she enjoys playing sports and spending time with friends.
Unlike other high schoolers, she spearheaded a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security to stop the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS).The termination of this immigration status would affect her mother, Cristina Morales. If TPS is cancelled and Morales is deported, Ramos will have to decide whether to stay in the U.S. without her mother or move to Honduras, an impoverished country with one of the highest homicide rates in the world.
President Donald Trump announced three years ago that he wanted to end TPS for holders from El Salvador, Nicaragua, Haiti, and Sudan. This came nearly 30 years after President George H. W. Bush signed into law the Immigration Act of 1990, which created the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) visa. Now hundreds of thousands of immigrants living with Temporary Protected Status could face deportation within the next year if President Trump’s decision passes through the courts.
What is TPS?
The 1990 law which created TPS contains the following conditions:
- “Establishes a program for granting temporary protected status and work authorization to aliens in the United States who are nationals of countries designated by the Attorney General to be subject to armed conflict, natural disaster, or other extraordinary temporary conditions.”
- “Authorizes the Attorney General to grant such temporary protected status.”
- “Prohibits deportation during the period in which such status is in effect.”
Although this protection does not provide a path to citizenship, it does grant immigrants fleeing dangerous situations the ability to live and work in the United States without fear of deportation. When it was first created, TPS especially benefited immigrants from El Salvador, but it has since included individuals from Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Yemen, and more. (For a snapshot of the conditions in these countries, click here.)
What is at stake if TPS is terminated?
A 2-1 ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Sept. 14 decided that the Trump administration acted within its authority in terminating protection for hundreds of thousands of individuals under TPS. This means that some 300,000 – 400,000 individuals currently protected under TPS may face deportation, with some deportations starting as early as March 2021. Immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Sudan face the most imminent threat of deportation.
The deportation of these individuals would have effects on both personal and community levels. TPS holders have been in the United States for decades making connections in their neighborhoods, workplaces, and places of worship.
“TPS recipients have deep economic and social roots in communities across the nation,” said Ali Noorani, president and CEO of the National Immigration Forum.
That’s not to mention the more than 200,000 U.S. citizens born to TPS immigrants who now face uncertainty about whether or not they will be separated from their family members who are not citizens.
Additionally, the U.S. economy would take a severe hit by losing individuals protected by TPS. Many industries depend on TPS holders. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, more than 11,000 of our health care workers are protected by TPS. Of food-related workers, 76,000 would be lost with the termination of TPS as would one-fifth of Washington, D.C construction workers. Individuals with Temporary Protected Status work in construction and painting, delivery, cleaning, childcare, and clothing factories; and as gardeners, cooks, and store clerks. These individuals are working in essential industries; we need them now more than ever in the midst of the pandemic.
While the effects of such losses would be felt most severely in areas where the Salvadoran, Honduran, and Haitian populations are most-heavily concentrated (i.e. Florida, New York, California, Texas, Maryland, and Virginia), these losses will ripple across the national economy. According to the Immigration Forum, TPS holders from El Salvador, Honduras, and Haiti contribute a combined $4.5 billion in pre-tax wages or salary income annually to our nation’s gross domestic product.
The termination of TPS will inevitably put pressure on U.S. borders as former TPS holders struggle to adjust to life under violence and poverty in their former countries. If the goal is to reduce illegal immigration, ending TPS does not seem to be a solution. Rather, a path to legal citizenship would protect the wellbeing of current TPS holders and their families, and benefit the U.S. economy.
What can you do?
If you want to help TPS holders potentially facing deportation, there are several options. First, consider sending a message to your Senator and Representative to ask them to stand up for TPS holders and to pass policies that would create a roadmap to citizenship. Consider sharing graphics like these or these to spread awareness about the issue. You may also consider checking out this toolkit, which includes approaches to holding vigils, posting on social media, and taking political action to stand up for TPS.
For people like Ramos and Morales, the decision on TPS will mean deciding whether to separate from one another or start over again in a different country. In the midst of a global pandemic, TPS holders and their family members face an added layer of uncertainty about the future. For more stories of how TPS holders and their families are impacted by the new decisions, like Crista Ramos and Cristina Morales, click here.
- Exploring legislative solutions: forging a path to citizenship for Dreamers - December 14, 2020
- Why Internally Displaced Persons Lack Protection - November 18, 2020
- DACA Leaves Recipients Vulnerable to Status Changes - November 8, 2020