Working Families United Condemns White House Decision to End TPS Protections for Immigrants from Earthquake- and Flood-Ravaged Nepal

WASHINGTON (Apr 28) — Working Families United, a coalition that represents more than two million union workers, released the following statement on today’s decision by the Department of Homeland Security to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for immigrants from Nepal:

 

“We denounce the decision by the Trump Administration to end Temporary Protected Status for, and to threaten with deportation, thousands of families from Nepal who live and work legally in the United States. Congress must act immediately to protect the 9,000 Nepalese TPS holders–and all recipients of TPS.”

 

“This administration has taken its cruel agenda from the White House to our workplaces, from xenophobic message boards to our communities. Trump’s White House has created crisis after crisis for hardworking immigrant families and threatens our economy in the process. It has fallen on Congress to step in and resolve these manufactured disasters. “Nepal has not recovered from the initial 2015 earthquakes and subsequent floods. The country still struggles with inadequate infrastructure. Many Nepalese still lack access to basic needs like housing, health care, education, and food and water security. Close to 50 percent of families in Nepal rely on financial help from hardworking relatives abroad to survive. In fact, Nepal receives almost 30 percent of its overall GDP from remittances—making it one of five nations most dependent upon remittances. In 2017, 15 percent of earthquake survivors in the most impacted regions of Nepal reported that remittances are their main source of income. “Our immigration policy must reflect the very best of America and our shared values–not pit one group of immigrants against another. Congress must step up and fight for these workers and all 300,000 hardworking survivors of disaster and war facing the loss of TPS protections. Congress can fix this by creating a permanent solution for Nepali and other TPS holders. They should get to work immediately.”

Contact Anna Oman, [email protected], 301-979-5899

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Working Families United is a coalition of labor unions, including the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, UNITE HERE, the Ironworkers, the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), seeking immigrant worker justice. Together, we represent 2 million U.S. workers.