From Church World Service (http://www.churchworldservice.org):
Urges Trump administration to restore Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and calls for a permanent legislative solution to protect TPS holders from deportation
Washington, DC – Church World Service condemns last night’s decision by the Trump administration to terminate Temporary Protected Status for Haiti, effective July 22, 2019. This decision follows the administration’s recent announcements terminating TPS designations for Sudan and Nicaragua, and is handed down from the same department that has been targeting a 10 year-old-girl outside of her hospital room, detaining families and children seeking asylum, and dismantling the U.S. refugee program. It is increasingly clear that this administration is not making decisions based on the metrics established by law, but on a prejudice against immigrant communities.
“Rescinding Temporary Protected Status for Haiti now, just days before Thanksgiving, is heartless and unprincipled. The TPS program offered Haitians temporary relief from deportation back to unsafe conditions, and during that time they have built homes in our communities and congregations across the United States,” said Rev. John L. McCullough, President and CEO of Church World Service. “At a time when we should be breaking bread with our families and neighbors, the Trump administration has yet again sought to tear us apart. We cannot allow this administration to continue its war on immigrant communities. We will not by silence or inaction consent to this tragedy. Community is at the core of God’s original invention. Regardless of national origin, it is worthy of our protection.”
Ending TPS is devastating to tens of thousands of families in the United States, including the 27,000 U.S. citizen children with a parent who has TPS. When TPS expires, those families will face impossible choices: splitting apart; moving U.S. citizen children to harsh and dangerous conditions in an unfamiliar country, or remaining in the United States without legal status, risking deportation. Haiti’s recovery has been a long road and directly impacted by subsequent, intervening disasters. Terminating Haiti’s TPS designation now means turning our backs on the vulnerable Haitians whom we pledged to protect, and places considerable burdens on the country as it struggles to recover from multiple disasters.
As communities of faith, we are reminded of 2 Corinthians 9:11: “You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.” CWS calls on the administration to reinstate Haiti’s TPS designation and urges Congress to pass legislation that would ensure stability for TPS holders who have lived here for many years, would face extreme hardship if deported, or are otherwise eligible for permanent residence. CWS stands ready to support measures to protect the well-being and dignity of immigrant families. Please click here (http://www.interfaithimmigration.org/issues/tps/) to see more information on this issue.
Since 1946, Church World Service has supported refugees, immigrants and other displaced individuals, in addition to providing sustainable relief and development solutions to communities that wrestle with hunger and poverty. Learn more about our work and join our global homebase for refugee solidarity at GreaterAs1.org (http://greateras1.org/).
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