The three current Hispanic Democrats in the Senate are calling on President Biden to expand and strengthen humanitarian protections for certain groups of immigrants who could be stripped of their legal status by the incoming Trump administration.
In a letter Wednesday, Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (Nevada), Alex Padilla (California), and Ben Ray Luján (New Mexico) asked Biden to grant Temporary Protected Status (TPS). ) called for strengthening the program and expediting the processing of program renewal applications. Includes Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
“Today, we are committed to acting decisively during the remainder of our term to complete the important work that protects long-term immigrant communities and prevents families from being deported to countries where they face untold danger. We write this letter to urge you,” the senators wrote. .
“In addition to supporting strong border security, we want to ensure that DACA recipients, TPS holders, and other immigrants who are vital members of our communities and economy are not forgotten during this hectic time. We are working hard to ensure that this does not happen.”
According to the National Immigration Forum, approximately 864,000 people are currently protected by TPS, which allows nationals of certain designated countries to live and work in the United States for renewable 18-month periods.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is responsible for these designations, which are granted based on man-made or natural disasters that make those countries unable to safely accept deportees.
The three senators cited Ecuador, Nicaragua, and El Salvador as examples of countries with large U.S. populations that could benefit from TPS extension or designation.
Ecuador is not currently designated as TPS, but some Democratic lawmakers are urging the Biden administration to include it in the program. There are approximately 180,000 Salvadoran and 3,000 Nicaraguan TPS beneficiaries in the United States.
“The worsening crisis continues to put hundreds of thousands of people at risk in countries around the world, including Ecuador, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. Nationals of these three countries are unable to return home due to difficult conditions on the ground,” the lawmakers said. wrote, citing escalating violence in Ecuador and government crackdowns in two Central American countries.
El Salvador's TPS beneficiaries have lived in the United States for more than 23 years, and the country's designation has been renewed more or less immediately by both Republican and Democratic administrations, and President-elect Trump's first term in office, when the TPS designation was granted, has Exempted. Expired.
Although Mr. Trump's efforts were frozen in court and reversed by Mr. Biden, supporters believe that the second Trump administration will effectively attempt to force TPS recipients into the country illegally and deport them, and will likely succeed. There is.
The three senators called on Biden to extend, redesignate, or designate existing and new TPS designations to the maximum statutory period to give beneficiaries at least 18 months of runway under the new administration.
“We urge the administration to ensure that TPS is granted to those from countries with meritorious incidents so that these people can continue to build their lives here and continue to contribute to our country.” they wrote.
The senators also called on Biden to expedite DACA applications and grant early parole (travel authorization for DACA recipients) before the end of his term.
Advance parole is important for DACA holders. That's because by leaving the country and returning with official permission, many people can become eligible to apply for certain work visas that are prohibited to illegal immigrants.
DACA grants work permits, deferrals from deportation, and optional accelerated parole to a group of Dreamers, undocumented immigrants who entered the country as minors.
Cortez Masto, Padilla and Luján also asked Biden to clarify the rules regarding which academic institutions and nonprofit organizations can sponsor year-round H-1B visas. DHS can only grant 65,000 H-1B visas a year, with an additional 20,000 for applicants with advanced degrees, but many nonprofit organizations are exempt from that cap.
As the number of applications far exceeds the normal limit, work visa recipients will be selected through a lottery system. This means that most qualified applicants only have a 50% chance of being selected.
DACA recipients who use advanced parole to secure legal entry and have been in the United States illegally for less than six months are eligible to obtain an H-1B visa through their employer and are fully They could be given a path to legal entry. situation.
But that path is complicated by the lottery system and allegations that big tech companies are rigging it. Advocates, academic institutions, and lawyers have previously told the Biden administration:Identify which jobs and institutionsare subject to upper limit exemption.
“A clearer cap exemption could encourage more employers to apply for H-1B visas on behalf of DACA holders, allowing eligible DACA recipients to pursue legal action through their employers. “This will ensure the opportunity to obtain a prestigious position,'' the senators wrote.
