Washington, DC – Earlier today, potential TPS holders, advocates, and experts joined together to explain the urgent need for the Biden Administration to designate Nicaragua for TPS. Country conditions in Nicaragua have continued to deteriorate over the years with increased violence, corruption, environmental disasters and impacts of climate change —all of which has been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. This call is a continuation within a series of events calling for TPS for Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala.
A TPS designation for Nicaragua would not only provide protections from deportation for those who have fled dangerous circumstances, but would also prompt an increased flow of remittances back to Nicaragua. Speakers on the call urged the Biden Administration to act quickly to utilize TPS to save lives and as a tool to help financially stabilize the country.
Ivania Peralta, a potential TPS holder from Nicaragua, domestic worker and member of the Miami Domestic Worker Center, said, “I am the breadwinner for my family, and therefore I had no choice but to leave my country. I arrived in Florida in March 2006, when migration enforcement was raiding buses, bus stops, trains, and workplaces. It was traumatic and I was unable to sleep for fear that they would arrest me. I had to look for a job where I would be able to work inside a house. I work 6 days a week, taking care of 15 people, making $250.00 a week. That is why I am here asking for a TPS designation for Nicaraguans. We need to work without fear, and be able to provide for our families. A new TPS designation for Nicaragua would be an important step towards freedom in a country where I feel imprisoned by my lack of legal status. This would change my life.”
Bernardine Dixon, Director of the Center for Multi-Ethnic Women’s Studies and Information (CEIMM) at URACCAN University, said, “In Nicaragua, inequality gaps have deepened as a result of the hurricanes, exacerbating impoverishment. Nicaragua faces the latent threat of famine, causing forced migration of populations from both urban and rural areas. In coming to the United States, many are in search of alternatives and better living conditions for their families. Given the current conditions in Nicaragua , TPS is necessary. We are talking about the fundamental rights of people.”
“For over 30 years, the United States has recognized the need to offer temporary protection to certain non-citizens who would face a threat to life of liberty if they were required to return to their home countries, as well as victims of civil war, political uprising, or natural disaster. In the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch in 1998, Nicaragua, along with Honduras, received TPS designation. In the wake of two similarly devastating hurricanes that added to other ongoing difficulties, redesignation of Nicaragua for TPS fits legislative intent exactly,¨ said Dr. Harold Rocha of the Nicaraguan American Human Rights Alliance.
“TPS designation for Nicaragua is urgent and essential,” said Yanira Arias, National Campaigns Manager at Alianza Americas. “It will protect nationals of Nicaragua who have been living in the United States for many years, many of whom hold an active part in our communities and provide significant civic, cultural, and economic contributions.”
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