WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic senators are urging President Joe Biden to expand temporary protections for migrants in the U.S. before he leaves office. They warn that millions of people could be forced to return to unsafe countries once President-elect Donald Trump retakes the White House.
Senators have quietly urged the White House to take executive action that would seek to extend legal protections for migrants to the Trump administration, and the White House has discussed what steps to take.
But any action by the outgoing president would come in the aftermath of an election that Trump won on promises of tough immigration enforcement. The Democratic Party is also internally debating how to address immigration and border security after its election losses.
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The Biden administration earlier this week made permanent a rule extending work permits for asylum seekers, but has made no commitments on other priorities for immigration advocates and Democrats. With just weeks to go before Biden leaves office, several Democratic senators made their pleas public on Wednesday.
“The urgency of the next 40 days will remain,” Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., said at a news conference. “So we continue to apply pressure.”
The Senators of the Congressional Hispanic Conference urged the White House to redesignate or renew Temporary Protected Status for migrants from Nicaragua, Ecuador and El Salvador, and issue an order to expedite extensions for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
More than 1 million migrants in the U.S. rely on TPS, which allows people already in the country to legally stay and work if their home country is considered unsafe. Trump has suggested he would scale back the program as he seeks to carry out the largest deportation operation in American history.
“We know the new administration will try to implement chaotic immigration policies that will tear our families apart,” said Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., adding: “But we now have a chance to do something about it.” to do and give these families as much legal protection and reassurance as possible.”
While Trump could try to reverse some of the actions, they would create a legal hurdle and give migrants stronger legal standing to challenge Trump’s orders.
In 2017, the Trump administration announced the end of TPS for Nicaraguans, saying it was no longer necessary. But TPS holders challenged the legality of that decision in a lawsuit in court. Since then, the duration of the TPS for Nicaragua has depended on a court order from a federal judge.
The White House is considering taking action to extend temporary protections for some countries, but nothing has been decided, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations.
Reassigning protected status to some countries would entail a more serious undertaking, as it would give people the right to remain in the US from the date it was designated, and a decision would have to be made about its security and security of the country. The extension process only involves those who are already in the US and are allowed to stay longer.
In recent months, advocates have increased pressure on the Biden administration to re-designate Nicaraguan migrants for TPS, which would protect thousands of people from deportation. Hundreds of religious, immigration and human rights organizations argue that the combination of political and environmental conditions makes it unsafe for Nicaraguans to return to their country.
“We don’t know how politics could change with Trump and TPS gives us peace of mind,” said Grethel Gomez, a 60-year-old Nicaraguan activist and asylum seeker who could benefit from TPS. “There is a horror of deportation, and this would give us security.”
Gomez’s son was a human rights activist in Nicaragua and was detained for 45 days. She took to the streets to protest and demand his release and was also prosecuted, she said.
Gomez left Nicaragua clandestinely and arrived in the United States on a tourist visa in 2021. Less than a year later, she applied for asylum, but she has not yet had any interviews and fears her trial will be hampered during the Trump administration.
TPS could also benefit those Nicaraguans who were under a separate Biden program called humanitarian parole and have temporary legal status that expires after two years. Trump has said he will end the parole program.
Other immigrants, such as Jose Cabrera, a TPS holder from El Salvador, have lived in the US for decades. But the TPS designation for El Salvador ends in March.
Cabrera, who took time off from his job as a groundskeeper on Wednesday to speak with senators at the Capitol, said, “I am proud to be part of this community. But right now there is so much fear among immigrants like me, especially as the new administration takes office.”
