From the Interfaith Immigration Coalition (http://www.interfaithimmigration.org):
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a U.S. program designed to protect people from being returned to harm, and the administration will decide by May 4th whether to extend TPS for Honduras. We need to send a clear message that the faith community welcomes Honduran TPS holders and wants to see their protections extended.
Faith Leaders: We invite faith leaders across traditions to sign on to this letter by COB on Friday, April 20th urging the administration to extend the TPS designation for Honduras for at least another 18 months. Failure to extend TPS for Honduras would mean turning our backs on the approximately 60,000 Honduran TPS holders are currently living and working in the United States, many of whom have U.S. citizen children.
CWS partner organizations CLINIC and CARECEN worked with Emilio* who shared his family’s story. Emilio’s parents did not know each other when they left their native Honduras nearly 30 years ago to build a better life in the U.S. They met in New York, where they married, received TPS status, and raised two children. Emilio’s mother has worked as a shift supervisor at the same company for the past 25 years, and his father has worked with various family-owned construction companies in New York. Their hard work put Emilio and his sister through private school through 8th grade, and secured their enrollment in a top-tier high school, where they enrolled in AP-level courses. Emilio went on to earn his undergraduate degree and MBA in just four years, and now—inspired by his father—supports other small business owners as a director at a consulting firm. His sister, equally accomplished with aspirations to pursue a PhD program in child psychology was tragically killed by a drunk driver in the summer of 2017. As Emilio’s family reels from the loss of his sister, they are burdened by the possibility of his parents having to return to Honduras, leaving their home (and a mortgage) behind. “I ask the government not to break up my family even more so,” he says.
Terminating TPS for Honduran TPS holders, like Emilio’s parents, puts them at risk of being return to dangerous conditions in Honduras and harms their families and our communities. Together, our collective advocacy places the faithful call to love our neighbors into action.
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