Comments
IMMIGRATION WATCH - Attacks on TPS holders like my uncle — people who work hard, follow the rules, and make this country great — hurt all of us.
In the 19 years my uncle has worked in the healthcare industry, he’s only missed one day — the day his mother, my grandmother, passed away. He would then help plan a funeral he couldn’t attend.
If you live in his small town in Utah, you know my uncle. He’s the big man you see on a bike riding all over town. He’s part of the kitchen staff at a care facility and a friend to the other workers and patients. He’s the man who has the bus schedule memorized and can get you anywhere.
He’s also the man who was forced to miss his mother’s funeral in his home country. His immigration status requires him to apply for travel authorization, which can take months and puts him at risk of being denied reentry. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t possible for him to make it.
Stories like these are all too common. And they could soon get worse.
My uncle has what’s called Temporary Protected Status, or TPS. TPS was created by Congress in 1990 to provide work authorization and protection from deportation to individuals from designated countries enduring armed conflict or environmental disasters.
Over a million people rely on the program. While it’s characterized as temporary, over 200,000 TPS holders have lived here for more than two decades. They’ve established lives here, yet live with the fear that it could be taken away at any moment.
Unfortunately, that moment has arrived.
President Trump and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem have made it clear that they’re coming for TPS. The administration has carelessly terminated or rescinded the legal status of hundreds of thousands of TPS holders, needlessly uprooting their lives.
These deported TPS holders are now expected to navigate poverty, instability, violence, and other unsafe conditions in countries many haven’t lived in for decades. Many struggle to reintegrate after their return, and are often targeted by local criminal groups.
While the administration slanders TPS holders as criminals, an overwhelming amount of research shows that immigrants actually make our communities safer. They have a nearly 95 percent employment rate and generate over $1.3 billion in federal taxes, contributing to programs like Social Security and Medicare. With a high rate of entrepreneurship, they generate a spending power of more than $8 billion.
Their positive impact is undeniable. Yet instead of providing a pathway to citizenship, the Trump administration is systematically phasing out TPS and imposing significant financial hardship on TPS holders and their communities.
In addition to deeply slashing programs like SNAP to fund tax benefits for the wealthy, Trump and the GOP’s “Big Beautiful Bill” also adds exorbitant new fees for immigrants with TPS, asylum seekers, and migrants on humanitarian parole. The new law increases initial application fees for TPS holders from $50 to $500 and adds a non-waivable $550 fee for work authorization for first-time applicants — along with a new annual renewal fee of at least $275.
My uncle has already paid thousands of dollars in renewal fees during his 20 years as a TPS recipient, saving the money needed from his $16 an hour job to continue to work and provide for his family. Because my uncle loves this country, he’ll pay these predatory fees.
But he shouldn’t have to — and neither should anyone else on TPS. Our communities are better because TPS holders are here. Their livelihoods are in jeopardy unless Congress provides them a pathway to citizenship.
The American Dream and Promise Act would provide TPS holders — along with DACA recipients and other undocumented youth — a pathway to citizenship, along with the permanent relief and stability they and their families deserve.
As the niece of one of the one million-plus TPS holders, I urge you to defend the rights of your neighbors. Now is the time to protect what makes our communities so great.
(Emily Rodiguez, a native of Utah, is a recent college graduate who’s pursuing a career in public policy. This op-ed was distributed by OtherWords.org.)
