FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE // Excuse cross-posting
March 6th, 2019
Contact:
Armando Carmona, 323-250-3018, press@Carecen-LA.org
Viridiana Vidal, 702-206-2110, vvidal@ndlon.org
National TPS Alliance Coordinator Testifies Before U.S. House Judiciary
“There is nothing temporary about our families’ lives”
**Find Jose Palma’s full testimony here
Washington DC – On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives hosted two hearings aimed at exposing the Trump administration’s family separation policies and lifting up the urgency of legislation to protect TPS and DACA recipients. For the first time, the House Judiciary Committee heard from spokesperson and coordinator for the National TPS Alliance, Jose Palma.
“I ask that you look at me and the TPS community, beyond the politics, the sound bites and rhetoric. With more than half a million TPS holders and their families on the verge of being separated, we ask that you look at our humanity and hear our stories” he said.
In his testimony, Jose Palma spoke about the nearly half a million individuals being stripped of legal status by the Trump administration, and about how his family’s story is not exceptional, but reflects the experiences of families across the US. “There is nothing temporary about our families’ lives. TPS represents the promise of a diverse and courageous nation and the example of hard work and strong families,” testified Jose Palma. “These are not things to fear.”
“TPS holders are parents working to stop a potential humanitarian crisis and family separations” he concluded.
Mr. Palma testified to the inspiring response of TPS families – from a diversity of backgrounds – uniting to lift up their voices across the country.
Earlier in the day, the TPS Alliance’s DMV Committee member Mardoel Hernandez spoke alongside Reps. Nydia Velazquez and Roybal Allard at a press conference calling for permanent residency for individuals from 13 countries with TPS and DED status, and DACA recipients.
“We are organized all over the nation working in defense of TPS families and towards a permanent solution! It is urgent for Congress to take action and pass bipartisan legislation that ensures the more than 450 thousand TPS recipients permanent protections.”
The TPS Alliance worked with partners in Washington, DC, to convene over 75 TPS beneficiaries from across the country to engage with members of Congress.
Background:
The National TPS Alliance includes over 60 local committees of TPS holders across nation and in 27 states, and has spurred the litigation that has blocked Trump’s termination of TPS for El Salvador, Nicaragua, Haiti, and Sudan, and the ongoing litigation to protect Nepal and Honduran TPS communities.
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