Howard Rotman

2 weeks ago

MASSACHUSETTS & CONNECTICUT TPS ALLIANCE PROTESTS MONDAY’S FEDERAL COURT DEPORTATION RULING: DEMANDS #RESIDENCYNOW !

On Tuesday, 9/15/20, immigrants, and advocacy groups such as Comité TPS Massachusetts, Harvard TPS Coalition , Cosecha Massachusetts, including union leaders & activists in SEIU 32BJ, 1199SEIU, AFSCME, Boston School Bus Drivers United Steel Workers Union Local 8751, other unions and political leaders attended a joint Massachusetts & Connecticut TPS Alliance Emergency Action at Boston City Hall Plaza protesting Monday’s Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ green lighting of President Trump's 2018 directive to the Department of Homeland Security [DHS] to expel from the U.S. more than 300,000 undocumented immigrants from 4 countries that Trump racially targeted when at a White House meeting he referred to those countries as "sh*thole countries", and called for ending the Temporary Protected Status [TPS] these people have enjoyed for as long as two decades. The Appeals Court overturned a 2018 San Francisco federal judge's block on the Trump administration’s move to terminate deportation protections for nationals of four countries- El Salvador, Nicaragua Sudan, and Haiti - because of natural disasters, wars or violent persecution in their homelands. If the Appeals Court's decision stands, Salvadoran citizens could lose protections as early as November 2021, while citizens of the other countries could lose their status even sooner, in March. In as little as six months, over 300,000 US citizen children stand to be separated from their parents. They face the impossible choice of choosing between their country and their parents.

Undocumented immigrants from Haiti -for the moment- have some protection from Monday’s Appeals Court ruling because a New York federal judge’s injunction preventing Haitians from being deported remains in place, though the outcome of their case is still pending with the 2nd Circuit Court.

The Ninth Circuit’s ruling could also sway the fate of TPS holders from Nepal and Honduras, whose separate legal fight to prevent deportation was on hold pending the outcome of Monday’s Appeals Court decision.

What the Appeals Court decision entails for our country and for Temporary Protected Status [TPS] families:

1) Thousands of employers; including the significant number of employers with TPS, will not only lose their businesses, but also lose a highly qualified workforce.

2) Our country will lose thousands who make important contributions to our economy. TPS beneficiaries pay an annual $4.6 billion in taxes. … 30% of TPS holders have mortgages.

3) In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, our country will lose more than 130,000 essential workers who have been on the frontlines of this crisis.

4) Our country loses its soul: the TPS program reflects the highest values of our country as a nation of immigrants, for the most part. TPS beneficiaries come from countries that have
been impacted by violent conflict or natural disasters. TPS holders are among the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free…

5) Racism, bigotry, and white supremacy win in our country with this decision.

Our community is demanding of President Trump and Congress:

#RESIDENCYNOW, not “Temporary” Protected Status! ... See MoreSee Less