Calls for the end of the deportation campaign against undocumented immigrants from Central America by the Obama administration are continuing to grow, with over 270 organizations coming together to demand that Central American immigrants are given temporary protective status (TPS).
The organizations, which consist of faith, humanitarian, legal rights, civil rights and labor rights groups, yesterday asked Jeh Johnson, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, to give temporary protective status to immigrants from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras who are currently in the United States due to the increasing level violence prevalent in their countries of origin. The groups point out that temporary protective status is already available for immigrants from Honduras and El Salvador, but only in instances of environmental catastrophes.
The groups say that a TPS designation can be adjusted by Johnson providing “there exist extraordinary and temporary conditions in the foreign state that prevent aliens who are nationals of the state from returning to the state in safety, unless the [secretary] finds that permitting the aliens to remain temporarily in the United States is contrary to the national interest of the United States”. The groups are convinced that the Central American immigrants fit the requirements for him to do so.
“Designation of a country for TPS should be premised on whether country conditions meet the statutory requirements set by Congress and must not be impacted by unfounded fears of increased refugees arriving at our nation’s border,” the letter − which was signed by various groups, including Fair Immigration Reform Movement and Mi Familia Vota − states.