Issued June 14, 2023
WASHINGTON — On Tuesday, the Biden administration announced that it will extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for El Salvador, Honduras, Nepal and Nicaragua, allowing over 300,000 immigrants in the U.S. from those countries to remain in a lawful status that most have held for more than two decades. The decision comes as a reversal of the previous administration’s termination of TPS for affected countries.
“As a union of immigrants, we know that our communities and our economy are stronger when all immigrants are protected and families are kept together. While this decision is a temporary relief for thousands of TPS holders from El Salvador, Honduras, Nepal and Nicaragua, there was a major opportunity missed for the administration to redesignate TPS for these countries to ensure that more migrants can obtain this life-saving protection,” said Rocio Sáenz, SEIU International Executive Vice President. “Most TPS holders have lived in the U.S. for decades. They have built families, become integral members of our communities and made invaluable contributions to our economy. The administration must act as soon as possible to rectify this omission and redesignate those countries. Our nation’s immigrants, many of whom are essential workers, deserve nothing less.”
Tuesday’s news came as SEIU members and children affected by the issue met with White House officials, urging President Biden to uphold his promise to keep families together by granting Temporary Protected Status to families in need of redesignation. During a live streamed joint press conference with partners, children joined advocates outside the White House to demand redesignation for El Salvador, Honduras, Nepal and Nicaragua.
“My mother is very important to me. She's my number one supporter and leads me toward the correct path every day. She's also my motivation when I feel I can't do something, especially in my education,” said thirteen-year-old Marilyn Consuelo Miranda, daughter of 32BJ-SEIU member and janitor, Bertha Soledad, during the press conference. “I’m here today to ask President Biden to keep my mom here with me so she can be there when I graduate high school and when I go to college to become a lawyer. I also want the President to give TPS to other families like mine, from Central America and Nepal.”
SEIU continues to call on the Biden administration to create a more just and humane immigration system, including by redesignating TPS for Ramos countries, as well as creating legal paths to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S.