They Are Americans in All but Their Paperwork

Today’s (Jan. 8) decision on Salvadoran TPS holders is another cruel plank in the Trump Administration’s drive to deport millions.

Salvadoran TPS holders have been living here with work permission for nearly two decades. They are Americans in all but their paperwork. Now, the Trump Administration is trying to drive them back to a country engulfed in corruption, violence, and weak governance. That this is a cruel and heartless announcement is, for its architects in the Administration, a feature and not a bug.

Congress can and must fix this: multiple bills with bipartisan support have been introduced to create a permanent solution for Salvadorans and TPS holders.

Under the direction of President Trump, and with the guidance of officials and advisors such as Jeff Sessions, John Kelly, and Stephen Miller, the Trump Administration has been advancing a radical vision that seeks to kick out and keep out immigrants and refugees.

From the first week of his presidency, Trump and his Administration have moved to remake U.S. immigration and refugee policy. The list is as long as it is extreme: imposing a ban on millions of Muslims; slashing refugee admissions; seeking tens of billions of dollars for a stupid border wall, deportation agents, and detention centers; eviscerating immigration enforcement priorities; deporting long-settled immigrants regardless of equities; conducting “silent raids” against immigrants who are complying with the law and checking in regularly with the government; eviscerating protections for Central American minors fleeing violence; using the specter of criminality to advance sweeping raids against immigrant youth; straining to punish local jurisdictions more interested in public safety than aiding and abetting mass deportation; seeking to slash legal immigration; ending DACA and plunging 800,000 young immigrants into crisis; and dismantling protections for hundreds of thousands of TPS holders from multiple nations in no condition to accept their return.

Congress can and must fix this: multiple bills with bipartisan support have been introduced to create a permanent solution for Salvadorans and TPS holders. We need members of Congress – from both parties – to step up and step in. Our national identity as a diverse, strong, and welcoming nation is at stake.

Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice Education Fund.

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