The news that TPS relief will be extended for nine months for U.S. residents from Honduras, El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, Nepal, and Sudan – on the heels of DACA being reinstated – is a tremendous success story and one that few would have thought possible at the start of the Trump administration.
The following is a statement from Douglas Rivlin, Director of Communication for America’s Voice:
For four years, Stephen Miller and the Trump administration pursued the goals of the anti-immigrant movement and sought to place long-settled TPS holders and DACA recipients on a path to eventual deportation. Trump and Miller believed that stripping these popular and successful statuses would send a signal to the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in America that it was time to go. Team Trump’s goal was ‘attrition through enforcement’ or the self-deportation of millions.
They failed. Led by the stories and courage of those directly affected and the savvy and legal strategies of litigators – with an assist from the arrogance and hubris of the President’s team of anti-immigrant zealots – the pro-TPS and pro-DACA movement has successfully pushed back. Now it’s clear that these campaigns have won enough of a reprieve for the incoming Biden administration to deliver continued relief for these populations.
This is not only a success story for millions of families in America, but a good thing for the country as a whole. Throughout the turbulent Trump years and the pandemic, immigrants, including those working legally with TPS and DACA, have demonstrated their essential role in American communities. The blow to society and the economy of uprooting millions of immigrants and their families who are settled, working and essential is a self-inflicted catastrophe that was narrowly averted. Despite the hard charging of the anti-immigrant movement, which is deeply committed to a whiter, less welcoming nation – with the core of their policy agenda being pushed by the White House and activists installed at DHS – millions of American families and neighbors are still with us in our communities working to bring America through the current public health and economic crises.
The Trump administration’s relentless assaults on immigrants forced a referendum, and America has chosen to side with immigrants. Donald Trump’s days in office are numbered, but the tremendous fight and determination of immigrants, families, allies and the American people made it such that TPS and DACA outlasted the President and his agenda to drive out millions of deeply-rooted immigrants for whom home is here.
