The following is a statement from Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice Education Fund, regarding reports that the Trump administration will extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for the current nearly 7,000 Syrian TPS-holders but not redesignate Syria, meaning families arriving after August 2016 will be at risk of deportation to a war zone.
Since his campaign, Trump and his team have moved aggressively to keep out and kick out immigrants and refugees.
A central part of this strategy is to dismantle TPS. This marks the fourth callous decision in the last three months, all of which point towards the eventual deportation of innocent people back to countries devastated by ongoing violence and natural disasters.
For the families who have fled Syria’s violence most recently, this is a cruel and heartless decision. The Trump administration has acknowledged Syria as one of the most dangerous places in the world, and, yet, just deemed many Syrians unworthy of our nation’s help. It is pure evil to send any mother, father or child back to a country devastated by civil war, brutality, and torture.
That Syria, with its ongoing armed conflict, does not meet this administration’s standards of redesignation reveals the truth we all know: the fix is in, and those fleeing danger are not welcome here.
Congress can and must fix this. Multiple bills with bipartisan support have been introduced to create a permanent solution for TPS holders. We call on members of Congress – from both parties – to step up and step in. Anything less would be a surrender to an administration intent on taking a wrecking ball to the Statue of Liberty.
