Warren Joins Cardin, Van Hollen, Velázquez, Colleagues in Calling on President Biden to Review Countries for Temporary Protected Status
“TPS extends needed humanitarian protections and keeps families together.”
Washington, DC – United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) joined Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Representative Nydia M. Velázquez (D-N.Y.) today, along with their colleagues in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, to call on President Biden and the Department of Homeland and Security Secretary Mayorkas to use the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program broadly and boldly to safeguard vulnerable people.
“We respectfully request that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in consultation with the U.S. State Department and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), conduct an immediate review of at least 17 countries to determine their eligibility to be designated or redesignated for TPS, including: the Bahamas, Cameroon, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Guinea, Honduras, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Mauritania, Nepal, Nicaragua, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Yemen. Reports indicate that conditions in each of these countries satisfy one or more conditions of TPS under 8 U.S.C. § 1254a,” the lawmakers wrote.
The members continued, “We welcome your vision of establishing a fair, humane, and functional immigration system that protects those in need of refuge and promotes stability for Americans…. The full, expansive use of TPS designations, which is both in line with Congressional intent and the letter of the law, is a critical tool that can be used now to advance that long-term vision.”
This letter reiterates the message expressed by over 310 local, state, and national organizations in a March letter. DHS has already announced new TPS designations for Venezuela and Burma and a re-designation for Haiti.
Joining the letter are Senators Cory A. Booker (D-N.J.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), along with Representatives Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Jamaal Bowman, Ed.D (D-N.Y.), Anthony G. Brown (D-Md.), André Carson (D-Ind.), Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), David Cicilline (D-R.I.), Yvette D. Clarke (D-N.Y.), Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.), Val Demings (D-Fla.), Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.), Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.), Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), James P. McGovern (D-Mass.), Gregory W. Meeks (D-N.Y.), Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Kathleen M. Rice (D-N.Y), C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.), Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Albio Sires (D-N.J.), Dina Titus (D-Nev.), Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), and Frederica S. Wilson (D-Fla.).
This letter is part of Senator Warren's ongoing efforts to protect the rights and wellbeing of TPS recipients, migrants, and asylum seekers.
In May 2021, Senator Warren supported the Biden administration’s announcement that it is designating Haitians in the United States for TPS for 18 months.
In March 2021, Senator Warren joined Senator Hirono’s amicus brief before the U.S. Supreme Court in Sanchez v. Mayorkas, regarding TPS holders being denied green cards.
In September 2020, Senator Warren called out the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision to end TPS for over 300,000 immigrants.
In April 2020, Senator Warren joined Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and 36 colleagues urging the Trump administration to automatically extend work authorizations for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and TPS recipients and other impacted immigrants.
In May 2018, Senator Warren joined Senator Markey in a letter to the Trump administration questioning the termination of TPS for Haitians.
In November 2017, Senator Warren released a statement calling out the Trump Administration's announcement that it planned to end TPS for Haitians in 2019.
###
Next Article Previous Article
