CARSON CITY, Nev. – Latino groups are speaking out against the decision by the Trump administration on Monday to end legal status for some people from Central America who were given temporary protected status over the past two decades.
The Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program authorized residency and work permits for tens of thousands of people fleeing hurricanes and strife in Nicaragua, Honduras, Haiti and El Salvador.
Now the Nicaraguans could lose their legal status in January 2019.
Abel Nunez, executive director of the nonprofit group Carecen, the largest Central American immigrants' organization in the country, says the federal government is making a very shortsighted decision.
"Sending back more of their nationals when their country is not ready can only create chaos in those countries and actually create more of a massive wave of migration to the U.S.," he states.
The TPS program has been renewed repeatedly since its inception. But Trump's Department of Homeland Security is changing course, saying that the countries are now stable enough for people to return.
The department put the decision on the fate of 86,000 Hondurans off for six months. And an announcement is expected soon on the fate of TPS holders from Haiti and El Salvador.
Royce Murray, policy director at the American Immigration Council, says it would be cruel to tear parents away from their U.S. born children, uprooting a group of people who came here legally and have set down roots.
"More than 50 percent of these folks have been here more than 20 years,” she points out. “A third of these Hondurans own homes. When pulled together, the Hondurans as well as the Haitians and El Salvadorans, who have TPS, there are 270,000 U.S.-born children from this collective group of TPS holders. "
Congress has spent millions of dollars in recent years trying to stabilize countries in Central America, where violent crime is rampant.
Nunez says Central American immigrants send billions of dollars in remittances back to their home countries each year, and the loss of that money would further destabilize the region.
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Leaders at the 5th annual Immigration Summit, which wrapped up in Los Angeles Friday, have vowed to stand strong no matter what happens with the November election.
The Republican candidate for president has called for mass deportations.
Miguel Santana, president and CEO of the California Community Foundation, said it alarms many people in a county where more than one-third of the residents of all ethnicities are foreign-born, and about 60% of children have at least one immigrant parent.
"We've been engaged in scenario planning," Santana explained. "We've prepared our immigrant community so that they know their rights, that we have the proper defense, but also, we're advancing comprehensive immigration reform. That is really what's needed."
The summit was co-sponsored by the California Community Foundation, the Council of Immigrant Inclusion and the Equity Research Institute at the University of Southern California.
Manuel Pastor, director of the institute, said deportations would leave a huge hole in the economy and tear families apart.
"In L.A. County, about a fifth of all Angelenos are either undocumented themselves or living with a family member who is undocumented," Pastor pointed out. "Fear of deportation, problems with accessing services because of status, affect a wide number of families."
Researchers also released the 5th annual State of Immigrants in Los Angeles report, which found naturalizations and wages for immigrants are up over the past few years. It also recommended continued support for county programs providing legal aid and help people access services in their preferred language.
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The Missouri House of Representatives has formed a special committee to look into what the House Speaker refers to as crimes committed by immigrants living illegally in Missouri.
The formation of this committee has sparked a debate between those who see it as a necessary step for public safety and those who view it as a misuse of resources driven by political motives.
House Speaker Dean Plocher - R-St. Louis County - said he's convinced this committee's findings will increase the safety of Missourians.
"The message needs to be," said Plocher, "'If you're not here in the state of Missouri legally, you're going to be detained - and you're going to be deported if you're committing crimes.'"
Data provided by Customs and U.S. Border Protection show last year, there were more than 1,200 violent crimes by committed non-citizens in the U.S. nationwide, and more than 2,000 related to drug trafficking and possession.
The first committee hearing will be in Jefferson City on July 11.
State Rep. David Tyson Smith - D-Columbia - said this isn't an issue in Missouri, and believes the committee is a waste of time and resources. He said it's all being done for political talking points.
"If we are really serious about these issues," said Smith, "we would form a special committee on gun violence to crack down on the shootings that are happening all over our state, that need to be clamped down on."
Studies have repeatedly shown that immigrants - legal and illegal - are more law abiding than people born here.
Research from The Marshall Project has found no correlation between undocumented immigrants and a rise in violent crimes.
However, some committee members believe people living in the U.S. illegally are to blame for an increase in Fentanyl and sex trafficking.
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A "Dreamer" running for the New Mexico Senate said a Biden administration plan to create pathways allowing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals beneficiaries to more quickly gain legal status could encourage others to follow her lead.
Cindy Nava bested her primary opponent earlier this month to face Republican Audrey Trujillo in November for the state's Senate District 9 seat. Nava was the first DACA recipient to receive a presidential appointment as Senior Policy Advisor to the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development.
Nava worked in the New Mexico Statehouse on behalf of Democratic lawmakers for a decade but could not get paid because she was undocumented. She eventually enrolled in the DACA program and became a U.S. citizen through marriage.
"I believe our families come from a place where we have always been afraid and my own parents tell me day to day," Nava pointed out. "But we learn to live with that fear and build resilience to work forward."
The 12-year-old DACA program provides protection from deportation and work authorization for undocumented young people who arrived as children and grew up in the U.S. The recent Biden initiative would allow those who have earned a college degree and received an offer of employment from a U.S. employer in a field related to their degree to more quickly receive work visas.
Born in Chihuahua, Mexico, Nava grew up in Albuquerque and Santa Fe. She noted the U.S. population is shifting and predicted soon, DACA recipients will be occupying seats in Congress. She believes they need a more stable pathway, requiring bipartisan cooperation at all levels of government.
"New Mexico's a great example of having leaders who have invested in opening opportunities for immigrants, from educational opportunities to driver's licenses for immigrants," Nava emphasized. "All of those things actually can be undertaken at a state level, and can be deeply meaningful."
There are currently about 600,000 DACA recipients across the country, with more than 75% in the workforce.
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