And, More Needs to Be Done
For Immediate Release: 16 November 2022
HYATTSVILLE, MARYLAND – On November 10, 2022, the Biden administration extended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) through at least June 2024, an additional 18-months, for TPS holders from El Salvador, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Sudan, and Haiti. The Department for Homeland Security announced via a Federal Register Notice the auto-extension for the TPS holders affected by the Ramos et al. v. Nielsen (El Salvador, Nicaragua, Haiti, Sudan) and Bhattarai et al. v. Nielsen et al. (Nepal) lawsuits. Subsequent TPS grantees from Haiti and Sudan are not impacted by the auto-extension and dates are quickly approaching when their fates will be finalized. In response to this development, CASA released the following statement from Gustavo Torres, Executive Director:
“Hundreds of thousands of people can be assured that at least for another 18 months their lives will not be ripped away from them. We celebrate the good news of this extension and commend the National TPS Alliance, Adhikaar, Haitian Bridge Alliance, and others for their sustained efforts in the litigation. While the auto-extension does not deal with the underlying issue of the Trump-era racist terminations, this is a huge and essential relief for TPS holders. We celebrate this next sliver of stability and continue our fight for citizenship for all. Now with the elections over, we look to Congress to act immediately to provide permanent relief for TPS and DACA holders and renew our call on the Biden administration to designate and redesignate TPS for the six countries and Guatemala.”
In 2017 and 2018 the Trump administration ended TPS designations for the six countries putting the status of approximately 300,000 people in jeopardy. In a series of legal battles including a class-action lawsuit which resulted in an injunction to block the original Trump-era termination followed by an overturning of that decision in 2020, plaintiffs began negotiations to reach a just settlement when the Biden administration took office. The settlement talks however did not reach an agreement and the case was sent back to a circuit court of appeals. The auto-extension announcement comes after settlement talks in the Ramos case broke down in late October of this year leaving the TPS holders from the impacted countries in peril and deportable after the end of the program.
With over 122,000 lifetime Latino, immigrant, and working-class members across 46 US states, CASA is the foremost immigrant organization in the mid-Atlantic region and a national leader in supporting immigrant families and ensuring that all individuals have the core support necessary for full participation in society. Now a national immigrant powerhouse, CASA creates change with its powerbuilding model blending human services, community organizing, and advocacy in order to serve the full spectrum of the needs, dreams, and aspirations of members. Visit us at www.wearecasa.org and follow us on Twitter at @CASAforall.