A full recording of the Senator’s speech is available here.
11/6/17 Decision deadline for 59,550 Hondurans and Nicaraguans: 6 DAYS
11/23/17 Decision deadline for 50,000 Haitians: 23 DAYS
01/08/18 Decision deadline for 195,000 Salvadorans: 69 DAYS
Senator Van Hollen (D-MD) on the floor today called directly on President Trump and Acting Secretary Duke to “make the right call, to make the humane call and allow these [TPS] individuals to stay in the United States.”
Excerpted highlights follow:
I come to the floor today to talk about another group of people who have not gotten much news coverage, Mr. President, but really demand the attention of the whole country, and that is the future of 300,000 immigrants who came here escaping horrific conditions, conditions brought about by war, earthquakes, and other natural disasters. They came to the United States under a program called Temporary Protected Status. T-P-S.
For example, Liberia was granted TPS status because of the Ebola crisis. Some Liberians came to the United States to seek refuge and were granted legal status here under that humanitarian program. Haiti was granted TPS status after the 2010 earthquake which killed over 300,000 Haitians. El Salvador was also granted TPS status because of a devastating earthquake.
Many of these TPS individuals have been in the United States for over twenty years now. They’re small business owners. They’re homeowners. They’re contributing to our communities and to our economy.
The reason I’m raising this issue today is that five days from now – next week – the Department of Homeland Security will announce whether or not they will continue to allow these individuals to stay in this country.
In five days, DHS will decide whether individuals who came here from El Salvador and Honduras and have made their home here can stay or whether they’ll be subject to deportation.
Their decision for Haitians who came here under the TPS program…the decision by DHS is due on November 23rd.
I think we can all see that although this matter has not hit the headlines yet, it will soon be grabbing more attention around the country.
I come to the floor today, Mr. President, to call upon President Trump, to call upon Acting Secretary Duke, to make the right call, to make the humane call and to allow these individuals to stay in the United States.
