TPS Families close Historic Hunger Strike to Call for Immediate Path to Citizenship On Biden’s 100th Day in Office.
Why Are TPS Families Declaring a Hunger Strike?”
Pictures From Press Conference
Washington DC– 43 days ago TPS Holders, their families and allies launched a historic hunger strike to call on the attention of President Biden and congress, to deliver on the promise to fully restore the TPS program and to finally grant a permanent residency for over 400,000 TPS beneficiaries. Since March 19, just one day after the House of Representatives passed a vote on the Dream & Promise Act, TPS holders have been joining the hunger strike and participating for at least 3 days. Participants have arrived from TPS committees in the DMV area, North Carolina, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Houston, and several other cities across the country.
The closing of this hunger strike on President Biden’s first 100th days in office comes just days after his call for Congress to pass permanent protections for Dreamers, farmworkers and TPS holders in his State of the Union address. While these statements are a true result of the TPS community uplifting the profile of TPS across the country, President Biden has yet to take any action on more than 400,000 families who are still expected to lose their status in October of 2021.
The National TPS Alliance continues to call for President Biden to restore and expand the TPS program and for the US Senate to take action on the American Dream & Promise Act (HR6), to include its legalization provisions in the next budget bill, or to push for permanent residency through all other available avenues.
Participants of the Hunger Strike made the following statements:
“Today, on the 100th day of Biden’s first term in office, we conclude our 43-day hunger strike in Washington D.C to call on the attention of President Biden and congress, to deliver on his promise to protect the TPS program and to finally grant a permanent residency for over 400,000 TPS beneficiaries. Many of our families have been in the U.S as hardworking key contributors to this country’s economy and cultural wealth for more than 20 years. We contribute more than $4.6 billion dollars in taxes every year and have more than 250,000 US Citizen children. Today, we are once again making it clear to Congress and the white house that Our Lives Are Not Temporary! We Demand a Permanent Residency Now!”- Nazareth Garcia, Daughter of TPS Holder, Nevada TPS Committee
“President Biden’s mention of our struggle in this week’s State of the Union speech is a testament to every single family who spoke up, who refused to remain in limbo and fought back. We’ll continue to speak up & speak for ourselves until we have the permanent status we deserve. It’s time to move from promises to action! We need the US Senate to take action on the American Dream & Promise Act (HR6), to include its legalization provisions in the next budget bill, or to push for permanent residency through all other available avenues. We also call on Biden to restore the TPS program and expand its benefits to benefit the largest number of people who cannot return to their countries due to natural or political disasters.”- Elsy Flores-Ayala, TPS Holder, Nelsy Edilberto Umanzor TPS Committee (Maryland/DC), Plaintiff in Ramos v. Wolf
“We battled the Trump administration’s racist and anti-immigrant attempts to terminate TPS in the courts and through our strength and resilience, through our organizing, we have now survived the last four years and are continuing to fight towards justice for all TPS families. We will continue to fight towards the best pathway for a permanent residency for all, including more than 11 million of those who remain undocumented. Our Alliance, made up of TPS families from across the country remains committed in words and action to advance migrant justice for all who currently reside here and all who seek to come here.”- Jose Palma, TPS Holder, Massachusetts TPS Committee
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The National TPS Alliance is a grassroots organization comprised of over 50 committees nationwide, advocating for the permanent residency of beneficiaries of Temporary Protected Status from the countries of El Salvador, Honduras, Haiti, Nicaragua, Nepal, Syria, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Yemen
https://www.facebook.com/TPSAlliance
https://www.nationaltpsalliance.org/