TPS Holders Urge 9th Circuit to Maintain Injunction Preventing Trump Administration from Terminating the Legal Status of 400,000 People

Hundreds Rally Outside Courthouse to Defend the Rights of TPS-Holders, Keep Families Together and Advocate for Permanent Protections

Press Conference Livestream Available here:

Photos from Rally Available at http://bit.ly/2Kxxmoq

Pasadena, CA – On August 14, at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, TPS holders defended the preliminary injunction which prevents the government from terminating their humanitarian legal status. The Ninth Circuit considered the Trump Administration’s challenge to a district court order which halted the terminations of TPS for El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Sudan. After the filing of a related case, the government extended the same protections to TPS-holders from Honduras and Nepal.

 “We are hopeful the court will respect the rights of the more than 400,000 TPS holders and their American children, many of whom are still in school. They too are entitled to the Constitution’s protections.” said Ahilan Arulanantham, senior counsel at the ACLU of Southern California, who argued the case.

“I have two kids who are U.S. citizens. It’s me who helps them be successful or not, if they do their homework or not. My daughter wants to be an OB-GYN. It’s my job to help her and tell her she can do anything. What is my option? Right now I see I can either help them or be separated from them,” said Wilna Destin, a TPS holder from Haiti and UNITE HERE union organizer, who is a plaintiff in the case.

Over 400,000 TPS holders are protected by the preliminary injunction. Most have lived in the United States for more than 20 years and many have U.S. citizen children and family here.

Crista Ramos, a 15-year-old high school student and the lead plaintiff in the case said, “I only learned about TPS when the president tried to end it for my mom. But as the child of a TPS holder, I didn’t think twice about standing up to the president to defend my mom and our family.”  

“This lawsuit challenges the unlawful and discriminatory terminations of legal status for over 400,000 people,” said Emi MacLean, legal director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. “It also confronts the Trump Administration’s attempt to dismantle a decades-old congressionally mandated program providing humanitarian protection.”

“I know that this has been a long, hard fight to get to this place, and I am feeling motivated to keep going – for myself and the thousands of other Nepalis with TPS like me,” said Keshav Bhattarai, lead plaintiff in a related case, Bhattarai v. Nielsen, which challenges the TPS terminations for Nepal and Honduras. 

“We’re fighting to stay together so that I can continue to provide for my children and see them achieve their dreams. As a union member, we know that we’re all equal and we fight for everyone to have the same rights. That includes the right of my family to stay together,” said Donaldo Posadas, a TPS holder from Honduras and member of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades who is also a plaintiff in the Bhattarai case.

Hundreds of TPS holders, their families, union members, and supporters marched to the courthouse to defend the rights of those with TPS and urge congressional action to grant permanent protections to TPS holders. 

The plaintiffs in Ramos v. Nielsen are represented by the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, NDLON, and the law firm of Sidley Austin LLP; Asian Americans Advancing Justice also represents plaintiffs in the related case of Bhattarai v. DHS. The plaintiffs in Ramos and Bhattarai are members of diverse organizations fighting to defend TPS, including the National TPS Alliance, CARECEN-Los Angeles, African Communities Together, Working Families United, UNITE-HERE, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, Adhikaar and Haitian Bridge Alliance.

LAWSUIT INFORMATION: https://www.nationaltpsalliance.org/tps-lawsuit/.

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Working Families United Members Condemn Acts of Terror in El Paso and Mississippi.

Solidarity, not division, is always what moves workers forward.

As working people in El Paso and Mississippi mourn, recover, and organize in the wake of the white supremacist attack and the ICE raid of 680 workers in poultry plants, including two represented by United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, (UFCW), the members listed below of Working Families United issued this statement of support and commitment:

Read more

Working Families United Cheers Passage of Dream and Promise Act in the House, Calls for Swift Passage in the Senate


In response to the passage of the Dream and Promise Act (HR6) in the House of Representatives, Working Families United issued the following statement:

“The Dream and Promise Act keeps our members safe, keeps our industries working, and keeps our nation’s values intact.  The bill has wide support from labor and business, the immigrant rights movement and the American public as a whole. There’s every reason for it to have broad support in Congress as well.

Union workers are fighting hard to prevent the crisis that would occur if the government were to cut the status of our members and coworkers. Now that the House has taken this incredible step forward, the Senate must do its part to avoid both the human devastation and economic disruption that would come from cancelling TPS.

Providing a stable future for TPS, DED holders, and Dreamers is right for the economy, right for the country, and the right thing to do.”

Working Families United is a coalition of seven labor unions, including the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, UNITE HERE, the Ironworkers, the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers,  the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), Teamsters, and Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA). Together we represent four million members fighting for immigrant justice.WFU formed in 2017 in response to the pending crisis caused by President Trump’s termination of Temporary Protected Status for 400,000 immigrant workers and their 275,000 US citizen children.  Our members like Wilna Destin of UNITE HERE and Donaldo Posadas of the Painters Union are plaintiffs in separate class action lawsuits for El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, Sudan as well as Honduras and Nepal.  Meanwhile the coalition urges Congress to pass legislation to provide permanent protections and a path to citizenship for Dreamers and TPS holders from all affected nations. See more about the union families whose futures are in limbo at tpschildren.org

Dream and Promise Act Means Stable Futures for Union Members

Since the Fall of 2017, a new coalition of unions, Working Families United, representing four million workers across the country has fought together to win stable futures for their members with an immigration status called TPS which offers them protection from being expelled to countries where their lives would be in danger due to natural disasters, war, or political instability.

The average TPS holder has lived in the US for nearly twenty years. They are trained specialists in their fields. One third are homeowners. And they are parents to more than 275,000 US citizen children whose lives would be thrown into chaos if the government were to remove their parents’ status.

The Dream and Promise Act will keep our union members safe, our industries working, and our nation’s values in tact.

“Within the labor movement and the business community, there is a remarkable consensus and feeling of great urgency for congressional action to protect these workers’ status.” – Terry O’Sullivan and Stephen Sandherr: Immigration fix & Pennsylvania’s construction crisis

These are just some of the stories of our union members with TPS.

Union families hugging

Donaldo Posadas, Maryland. IUPAT member and TPS holder from Honduras

For the last 20 years, Donaldo Posadas Caceres has strapped on a harness with a paint gun to scale the towers and steel beams of some of the tallest bridges in the United States. Whether he’s on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in Maryland, the Walt Whitman Bridge in Philadelphia, or other suspension bridges up and down the East Coast, Posadas thinks about his wife and family, because “I will do anything for my family,” he says.

Wilna Destin, Florida. UNITE HERE member and TPS holder from Haiti.

Wilna Destin’s eyes fill with tears when she talks about her 10-year-old son. She describes how frightened he is she will leave him. He asks who will hug him, or make him dinner, or help him with his homework if she goes away. She tries to reassure him, but this is not just normal separation anxiety—his fears are well-founded.

Destin was a housekeeper at Disney World until she landed her job at UNITE HERE as an organizer helping lead the campaign to raise the minimum wage. Destin is one of nine TPS holders from all over the country who sued the federal government in March, arguing that the Trump administration’s decision to terminate TPS was illegal.

Ericka Lopez, Nevada. UNITE HERE member and TPS Holder from El Salvador.

In her years in Las Vegas, Ericka has become an American in every sense except for actual citizenship, she said. She lives in an apartment in North Las Vegas with her kids and has worked her way up from a job doing laundry for local casinos to become an organizer for the local hospitality worker’s union, Culinary Workers Union Local 226.

“For me, right now I can say that I found the opportunity that I never dreamed (of) before,” Ericka said, choking back tears at the thought that the dream might end.

Noel Aguilar, Virgina. LIUNA member and TPS holder.

I have spent nearly all of my adult life in the United States. I’ve made a career for myself in construction by renovating government buildings and am a member of the labor union LIUNA Local 202. My children, ages 13 and 19, are U.S. citizens.

The opportunity to live and work in the United States is something I will always be grateful for, but since the termination of temporary protected status, I worry that my family will be torn apart.

Cesar Rodriguez, California. Teamsters member and TPS holder from El Salvador.

Rodriguez drives a truck that hauls containers to and from the docks of the Port of Los Angeles, carrying merchandise for Amazon, Walmart and Target.

“If I lose my TPS, I lose my trucker’s license,” Rodriguez said, referring to his temporary protected status in the U.S. “I work hard. I have a clean record. I pay taxes. Right now, I have no solution to fix my status if TPS ends.

Lorena Berrios, New York. LIUNA Member and TPS Holder from El Salvador

Working in construction gave me economic stability…I’m scared because if TPS is gone, everything I have achieved will be gone, too,” she says. Berrios’ three children—two of whom also are union laborers—also now face uncertain status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program created in the Obama era to allow immigrant children, the estimated 800,000 “dreamers,” to remain for school or work.

Yvenor Joachim, Pennsylvania. UFCW member and TPS holder.

“America gave my family the opportunity for a new life after our home in Haiti was destroyed by the 2010 earthquake. TPS allowed us to come here when we had nowhere else to turn. Thanks to TPS, we’ve been able to find good jobs, provide for our family, and build a better future for our children. We work hard, pay our taxes, and are proud to contribute to our community. After building a new life here, losing TPS would devastate our family and millions of families like ours. I stand with all TPS holders to urge Congress to save TPS and keep our families together,” said

Labor Unions: Senate DREAM Act Should Be Common Sense

Permanent Protections for Dreamers, DED, and TPS Holders is a Top Issue for Labor.
It’s Right for the Country, Right for the Economy, and the Right Thing to Do.

 

In response to Senators Durbin and Graham introduction of the DREAM Act ensuring permanent protections for qualifying immigrant youth, the Working Families United coalition issued the following:

Passing the DREAM Act is long overdue.  Our unions applaud the proposal today and will push for its passage alongside its counterpart, the Dream and Promise Act, in the House.

It’s in no one’s interest to see immigrant youth or any worker forced back into the shadows or sent into exile. It is in all of our interests that they have uninterrupted rights, on-going opportunities, and stable futures to continue contributing to our workplaces, our communities and our unions.

With the introduction of the DREAM Act, momentum for permanent protections is visibly growing in Congress. The bill’s counterpart in the House, the Dream and Promise Act, now has 221 co-sponsors and is expected to come to a vote next month. The tax contributions and spending power of beneficiaries of the House bill are now available by congressional on an interactive map.

Working Families United is a coalition of seven labor unions, including the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, UNITE HERE, the Ironworkers, the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers,  the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), Teamsters, and Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA). Together we represent four million members fighting for immigrant justice.

WFU formed in 2017 in response to the pending crisis caused by President Trump’s termination of Temporary Protected Status for 400,000 immigrant workers and their 275,000 US citizen children.  Our members like Wilna Destin of UNITE HERE and Donaldo Posadas of the Painters Union are plaintiffs in separate class action lawsuits for El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, Sudan as well as Honduras and Nepal.  Meanwhile the coalition urges Congress to pass the Dream and Promise Act in the House and its counterparts in the Senate, the DREAM Act and the Secure Act, to provide permanent protections and a path to citizenship for Dreamers and TPS holders from all affected nations.

Labor Unions Praise Senate Introduction of SECURE Act

Permanent Protections for TPS, DED Holders is a Top Issue for Labor.
It’s Right for the Country, Right for the Economy, and the Right Thing to Do.

Today, labor unions applaud Sen. Van Hollen, Sen. Cardin, and Sen. Feinstein’s introduction of the SECURE Act. The bill will ensure a stable future and permanent protections for the approximately 400,000 TPS and DED holders from more than a dozen nations whose legal immigration status has been terminated by the Trump Administration.  

 

The Working Families United coalition issued the following:

It should be common sense to ensure that the people who have contributed so much to our nation’s economy have a stable future. Passing the SECURE Act is urgent and necessary. It’s right for the country, right for the economy, and right for our unions’ families.

No one benefits if TPS holders lose their status. Most TPS holders are skilled professionals with deep roots in their communities and decades of training on their jobs.  Securing their place in the U.S. is about securing a crucial workforce for the construction, hospitality, and food processing industries.

If Congress does not act, the cost to TPS holders is complete upheaval for their lives and careers. The cost to our nation will be billions of dollars in lost taxes, lost Social Security contributions, and turnover costs to employers. Terminating TPS would send shockwaves through the entire economy as mortgages default, workers are pulled off the job, and project delays pile up.

Our unions are proud to see the Senators propose real solutions that safeguard the best interests of the country and the workers who contribute to it every day.

With the introduction of the SECURE Act, momentum for permanent protections is visibly growing in Congress. The Senate bill’s counterpart in the House, H.R. 6, the Dream and Promise Act, now has 221 co-sponsors and is expected to come to a vote in the coming weeks. See a breakdown of the tax contributions and spending power of TPS holders and Dreamers on this interactive map.

Working Families United is a coalition of seven labor unions, including the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, UNITE HERE, the Ironworkers, the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers,  the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), Teamsters, and Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA). Together we represent four million members fighting for immigrant justice.

WFU formed in 2017 in response to the pending crisis caused by President Trump’s termination of Temporary Protected Status for 400,000 immigrant workers and their 275,000 US citizen children.  Our members like Wilna Destin of UNITE HERE and Donaldo Posadas of the Painters Union are plaintiffs in separate class action lawsuits for El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, Sudan as well as Honduras and Nepal.  Meanwhile the coalition urges Congress to pass the Dream and Promise Act in the House and its counterparts in the Senate, the DREAM Act and the Secure Act, to provide permanent protections and a path to citizenship for Dreamers and TPS holders from all affected nations.

INFOGRAPHIC: Disaster Recovery Relies on TPS Workers

In states across the country, workers with TPS are rebuilding after the disaster. They are playing a central role to getting our cities back in gear and back on their feet after disaster strikes.

You can re ad more about the role of workers with TPS in disaster recovery in this report from the Center for American Progress.

To download a high-res version of the graphic for print, click here.

 

Unions Endorse Dream and Promise Act, Push for Swift Passage in Congress

Bill Would Provide Stable Futures for Our Members and a Stable Workforce for Our Industries

 

March 12 – Washington, DC

In response to the introduction of H.R. 6, the Dream and Promise Act by Reps Roybal-Allard, Velazquez, and Clarke with 130+ co-sponsors, the Working Families United Coalition released the following statement:

 

The Dream and American Promise Act will provide stable futures for Dreamers and people with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and a stable workforce for America’s industries.  

Passing permanent protections for Dreamers and TPS holders is in the best interest of the American people, American businesses, unions, and as equally important, for the people who wake up and go to work or school every day whose lives have been thrown into limbo by the cancellation of these programs. It should be a common sense solution for industries facing skilled labor shortages to make sure the TPS holders and Dreamers who have become trained professionals in their fields can continue their contributions instead of allowing them to be torn from their homes and their workplaces.

The economic cost of cancelling TPS would be in the billions in lost GDP, in turnover, lost Social Security contributions, and the human cost would be immeasurable. The United States does not want to see another family separation crisis.  

Our unions strongly endorse the Dream and Promise Act and urge Congress to pass it immediately.

Working Families United is a coalition of seven labor unions, including the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, UNITE HERE, the Ironworkers, the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers,  the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), Teamsters, and Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA), representing four million members fighting for immigrant justice.

 

WFU formed in 2017 in response to the pending crisis caused by President Trump’s termination of Temporary Protected Status for 400,000 immigrant workers and their 275,000 US citizen children.  Our members like Wilna Destin of UNITE HERE are part of the class-action lawsuit currently blocking the termination of TPS for Nicaragua, Sudan, El Salvador, and Haiti. Donaldo Posadas of the Painters’ Union is a plaintiff in a separate case for Honduras and Nepal. Meanwhile the coalition urges Congress to pass the Dream and Promise Act in the House and the Secure Act in the Senate to provide permanent protections and a path to citizenship for Dreamers and TPS holders from all affected nations.

 

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Highlights from the House Judiciary Committee Hearing on Dream and TPS

On March 6th, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the fate of Dreamers, immigrants with DED, and TPS Holders.

While more than a decade of organizing for the Dream Act made everyone familiar with DACA and the status of undocumented youth, Rep. Nadler broke down exactly what is TPS and what would happen if it was cancelled.

Jin Park came to the US at a young age and now is a Rhodes Scholar. He testified why DACA recipients need permanent status.

 

Yazmin Irazoqui Ruiz of the NM Dream Team explained that the terrorizing policies of Sheriff Arpaio drove her family from Arizona.  And made the case for permanent protections for DACA recipients.

 

read her full testimony here

Yatta Kiazolu whose DED status could end in a matter of days if Congress does not act swiftly powerfully discussed the effort of her working family and her aspirations as a historian.

Read her full testimony at UndocuBlack here.

TPS holder, father of four, and coordinator of the National TPS Alliance, Jose Palma brought the room to tears with his explanation of what life in limbo means and what contributions TPS holders make.

Read his full testimony at the TPS Alliance here

Rep. Nadler asked Palma to explain how he explains the limbo to his children. There are more than 275,000 US Citizen children whose parents have TPS and are facing an uncertain future.

Kiazolu has had both TPS and DED and is by all means a dreamer. Rep. Lofgren asked her why the fate of the different programs should be saved together.

Rep. Cohen of Tennessee – unlike the Administration – investigated conditions in Honduras, key to understanding the need for TPS and the risk to people who would be sent back.

Rep. Cicilline summarized the situation. He apologized that Dreamers, DED and TPS holders have yet to get the place they deserve and have earned and thanked the witnesses for what they’ve done for the country.

 

While the Hearing continued, Representatives and advocates rallied outside and announced the soon to be introduced legislation, the Dream and Promise Act (HR6)

Rep. Raskin gave witnesses the opportunity to answer – in 15 seconds or less – “What does America mean to you?”

And while the Committee hearing discussed the fate of TPS holders and Dreamers, the people whose fate is in limbo filled the halls and met with Representatives to build support for legislation that would give them a stable future.

 

 

Watch the full hearing here