More than 300 progressive organizations are calling on the upcoming Democratic House to quickly “pass and send to the Senate stand alone, clean legislation” addressing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) recipients. Without permanent legislation, this group of one million immigrants could become deportable.
“While we currently have federal court injunctions in place correcting temporary protections to over 800,000 Dreamers and over 300,000 TPS holders,” said Avideh Moussavian of the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), “we need clean permanent solutions from Congress and call on Democratic Representatives to make this legislative a priority within the first 100 days of the new Congress.”
Over the course of months, the administration has rescinded or terminated protections for both groups of immigrants. In September 2017, officials announced the end of DACA. Just weeks later, officials announced the end of TPS for Haiti, and weeks after the end of TPS for El Salvador. TPS recipients from Honduras, Nicaragua, Somalia, Sudan have already been told to find a way to adjust their status (there isn’t), or prepare for deportation, despite some having lived here legally for decades.
As Moussavian notes, lower courts have temporarily blocked the administration from ending DACA and TPS, but temporary is just that—temporary. With the Supreme Court in conservative hands, the administration expects to win out in future court battles. The solution is permanent legislation, and the groups say that following the historic Democratic wave in the House, there’s a mandate from voters—who overwhelmingly support protecting DACA recipients, in particular—to act.
“Voters wants TPS recipients and Dreamers to stay,” said Jamie Contreras, vice president of SEIU 32BJ. “That message was made loud and clear on Election Day.” Democratic minority leader Nancy Pelosi, widely expected to become the next speaker of the House, appears ready to act. “I look forward to working with you,” she tweeted to immigrant rights group CHIRLA, “on comprehensive immigration reform and protections for our DREAMers—fighting for the dignity of immigrant families.”