For Immediate Release //
June 24th, 2020
Contact: Erik Villalobos, evillalobos@ndlon.org;
Martin Pineda, 213-712-4022, mpineda@carecen-la.org
Hundreds of TPS Holders lead Nationwide “On the Road to Justice” Mobilization To the US Senate To Advocate For TPS Families On The Verge of Deportation
Washington, DC – Earlier today immigrant TPS Holders, their families and allies led a caravan of hundreds of decorated cars in front and around the U.S. Senate offices in Washington DC. “On the road to justice” is a national caravan of TPS families who have travelled thousands of miles to raise awareness of the more than 130,000 TPS essential workers who have been on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic and once again and demand that Senators support TPS families by passing legislation that secures a permanent legal status for DACA and TPS holders.
Messages uplifting TPS essential workers, demands for permanent residency and an end to family separation, and solidarity with Black Lives Matter, flooded the streets of Washington DC as the caravan made its way towards the US Senate.
Today TPS Holders are sending a strong message to US Senators; that TPS holders have and always will be essential, our work has been essential in the midst of the pandemic and will continue to be essential.
The following are statements from a Press Conference this morning:
Marta Fernandez, Honduran TPS Holder and Community Organizer, Antelope Valley, CA
The clock is running out, the minutes and hours are passing and our deadline of January 4th, 2021 is approaching. We have given, and continue to give, our all in this country which is why we demand a permanent and immediate solution.
Doris Landaverde, Salvadoran, TPS holder and custodian at Harvard University, Boston MA
Congress and the Senate must act now and stop denying TPS and DACA families a permanent residency. During this pandemic, I’ve had to quarantine myself away from my children and it has been painful; I can’t imagine the possibility of being ripped away from my family if our TPS protections end.
Erasmo Ramos, Honduran TPS holder and Hospital worker, Newark, New Jersey
We are here because we want justice, our TPS extension expires January 4th and there are approximately 450,000 on the verge of deportation. TPS holders like me are putting our own health, and the health of our families at risk as essential workers on the frontlines of this pandemic.
Background:
The National TPS Alliance is a coalition of over 50 grassroots committees of TPS immigrant families from across the country, organizing and advocating for their permanent residency. Many members are plaintiffs in the Ramos and Bhattarai lawsuits that have temporarily blocked Donald Trump’s efforts to strip legal status from TPS holders in the US. Over 400,000 beneficiaries of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) are from El Salvador, Guinea, Honduras, Haiti, Nicaragua, Nepal, Syria, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Sierra Leone and Yemen. Learn more about the struggle for TPS justice at https://www.nationaltpsalliance.org
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