May 8, 2018 - NHLA Condemns Trump Administration Decision to End TPS For Hondurans

May 8, 2018

NHLA CONDEMNS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION DECISION TO END TPS FOR HONDURANS

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, a coalition of 46 of the nation’s preeminent Latino advocacy organizations, denounces the Trump administration’s decision to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for more than 50,000 Hondurans seeking refuge in the U.S. subsequent to natural disasters, political unrest, and violence.

In a series of decisions to uproot legal immigrants from the U.S., Honduras will be the sixth country for which the Trump administration terminates TPS. Over 300,000 TPS holders from Honduras, Nicaragua, Haiti, El Salvador, Sudan and Nepal will be torn from their families and forced to return to hostile environments despite being law-abiding, contributing citizens.

TPS holders from Honduras, Haiti and El Salvador alone contribute an estimated $4.5 billion annually to U.S. Gross Domestic Product. The mass deportation of TPS holders would result in over 250,000 layoffs, costing approximately $164 billion in Gross Domestic Product.

“This administration, contrary to federal law, is plainly exercising no legitimate discretion with respect to TPS, but is instead acting on a predetermined, race-tinged, anti-immigrant agenda,” said Thomas A. Saenz, NHLA Chair and MALDEF President and General Counsel. “Congress must step in to protect Honduran and other TPS holders in order to restore some integrity to implementation of our immigration law.”

“First, Trump came for the Salvadorans. Then it was the Haitians, Nicaraguans, Sudanese and Nepalese. Now, it’s the Hondurans. All of these TPS holders and their families have now had their lives upended because of a president who disdains their skin color, ethnicity and culture”, said José Calderón, President of Hispanic Federation. “We urge Congress to summarily call out and reject this ongoing white ethnocentric effort by the White House to reduce the number of immigrants of color in the United States.”

"It is US foreign policy that destabilized central America. It is our obligation to treat Hondurans with the safety protections that human rights law requires. It is an affront to all Central Americans and Latinos generally that this administration refuses to protect the rights of legitimate refugees," said Juan Cartagena, President and General Counsel of LatinoJustice PRLDEF.

“Ending protections for the more than 50,000 hardworking immigrants from Honduras who came here looking for refuge from natural disasters and violence is not only wrong, it is downright un-American,” stated Arturo Vargas, National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund executive director. “This act will not only disrupt our economy, but also seperate spouses, children and siblings. We urge Congress to do the right thing by passing a legislative fix that will allow these hardworking Americans to keep their families together and continue to contribute to our economic prosperity.”

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ABOUT THE NATIONAL HISPANIC LEADERSHIP AGENDA:

The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda is composed of 46 of the leading national and regional Latino civil rights and public policy organizations and other elected officials, and prominent Latinos Americans. NHLA coalition members represent the diversity of the Latino community – Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and other Latino Americans. NHLA’s mission calls for unity among Latinos around the country to provide the Latino community with greater visibility and a clearer, stronger influence in our country’s affairs. NHLA brings together Latino leaders to establish policy priorities that address, and raise public awareness of, the major issues affecting the Latino community and the nation as a whole. For more information, please visit: www.nationalhispanicleadership.org.

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