Efforts by the federal government to terminate temporary protections for approximately 1.5 million immigrants who have had permission to live and work in the U.S. are not just cruel, but self-defeating. In states all across the U.S., Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders contribute billions to our economy every single year, help fill critical labor shortages, and are parents to more than a quarter of a million American citizens, as FWD.us noted in a report last year.
“Since Congress established TPS more than three decades ago, TPS recipients have used the program’s work authorization to support themselves and to contribute enormously to the U.S. workforce and economy,” the report said. “For example: some 87% of TPS holders from El Salvador and 81% from Honduras—all of whom have lived in the U.S. for more than 20 years—participate in the labor force. These labor force participation rates of long-term TPS holders are considerably higher than the U.S. labor force overall (about 62%), and are on par with the U.S. labor force in their prime working years of 25 to 54 years old (about 83%).”
“In all, TPS holders contribute about $21 billion annually to the U.S. economy, in addition to the payment of $5.2 billion in combined federal, payroll, state, and local taxes.” These contributions help subsidize federal programs that are critical to the everyday lives of Americans, including Social Security and Medicare.
TPS holders are also natural-born entrepreneurs, “often creating jobs for U.S. workers and revitalizing communities in the process,” the American Immigration Council said in 2023. “We find that TPS holders had higher rates of entrepreneurship than similarly aged U.S.-born workers. Notably, more than one out of every seven employed TPS holders, or 14.5 percent, reported being self-employed in 2021, compared with 9.3 percent of the U.S.-born.” Nearly 95% of TPS holders reported being employed, American Immigration Council said.
We also know that TPS holders help fill critical labor shortages in essential industries like health care. Haitian TPS holder Gina Policard told Documented last year that while she initially pursued a career as a home health aide in order to pay her bills, she found that she had discovered her passion. “I had to do something, because I have bills to pay,” she said. “But I love the job because I love taking care of people the same way I do for my family.”
About one in six hospital workers are foreign-born overall, according to research from KFF last year. While immigrants like Policard are helping fill gaps, shortages in this industry are only expected to grow, which in turn hurts all people seeking quality care, KFF said.
“Reducing the number of immigrants, or discouraging immigrants from entering the U.S., could exacerbate these shortages, which in turn could reduce access to care, lead to understaffing and poorer quality of care, and increase hospitals’ labor costs, some of which could be passed onto patients and other payers,” the report said.
However, the federal government is ignoring these clear-cut findings and remains determined to pursue an end to these temporary protections even though conditions in these countries have not improved. For example, deadly U.S. military action in Venezuela has only fostered further instability, including major questions about the Latin American nation’s future governance. Despite many Venezuelan TPS holders expressing fear of returning to continued chaos, the administration is still defending its decision last year to terminate their protections. Rather than reinstating this relief, the federal government has been telling TPS holders to “go home.”
Sebastian, a Venezuelan TPS holder who asked to be identified by his first name only, told NPR that he initially welcomed the news of Nicolás Maduro’s removal from power. But he said his relief quickly turned to worry when he heard about U.S. plans to work with Maduro’s right-hand person, NPR said. Sebastian, an architect who calls Miami home, “said he feels the danger is still as present in Venezuela.”
The federal government “has been saying for a year the conditions have changed for good in Venezuela,” Sebastian told NPR. “But I would ask, if the U.S. has to extract a man who took over the government, how am I supposed to believe that the situation in Venezuela is good? It’s contradictory, I see the opposite — the situation is worse.”
Of course, there are also the deeply personal ties that TPS holders have to their communities within the United States. “For instance, FWD.us estimates that more than 580,000 U.S. citizens live in households with at least one current TPS holder, including some 260,000 U.S. citizen children,” the group said. Many TPS holders have called this country their home for decades. Salvadoran and Honduran beneficiaries – “who make up a significant share of the current TPS population,” FWD.us said – have resided here for an average of 29 years.
Uprooting long-settled community members who have benefitted from the humanitarian protections of this program doesn’t just hurt families, it makes our country poorer, sicker, and less competitive around the world. When critical federal programs are already facing drastic impacts due to the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act, eliminating the vast contributions of TPS holders and other immigrants only stands to worsen devastating cuts.
“In South Florida, community and business leaders warn that the end of TPS will have immediate consequences,” EL PAÍS reported in December. “Paul Christian Namphy, director of the Family Action Network Movement (FANM), a Miami-based community advocacy organization, argues that ‘without the work of immigrants here, without this labor force, the Florida economy would be unable to function.’”
“Namphy points out that ‘to say it is against the national interest’ for Haitians to remain in the United States ‘couldn’t be further from the truth.’ ‘Haitians contribute billions of dollars each year to the U.S. economy. They pay billions of dollars in federal, state, and local taxes. These workers are essential to the economy of Florida and the country,’ he adds.”
