Congress Must Protect 450,000 TPS Holders
With nearly half a million Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders and our families on the verge of being separated, I came to Washington, DC recently to testify in Congress and stand up for TPS families across the nation. Beyond the politics, the sound bites, and rhetoric, we ask that lawmakers look at our humanity, hear our stories, and to unlock a path toward permanent residency for hundreds of thousands of TPS families who call this country home.
As a father to four U.S. citizen children, a loving husband to my wife, and a proud 18-year resident of Lynn, Massachusetts — who also happens to be a TPS holder — I was honored to stand up for other TPS families like mine. I hope Congress can look at the TPS community and recognize that our story is no different from that of millions of Americans. We have established roots here, and we are strong foundations in our communities.
I was first granted TPS in 2001, when I was 25, as respite from the unbearable social and economic conditions created by civil war and earthquakes. As the years passed and my TPS designation was repeatedly renewed, I began working and obtained an associate’s degree in paralegal studies from North Shore Community College.
I was awarded a distinguished alumni award. I married the love of my life, who also has TPS. And we had our son Kevin, who is now getting ready to apply to colleges in hopes of becoming a cardiologist. Like other fathers, I am helping him fill out his applications, and plan to continue supporting him throughout his career.
Angie, my 13-year-old, is a part of every club possible at school, and she dreams about being a physical therapist. Our 3-year-old is about to start pre-kindergarten. And we have a 7-month-old baby girl whose greatest gift to my life is her beautiful smile.
For the last 18 years, our lives have been measured in 18-month periods. Background checks, application fees, visits to DHS offices — we’ve always done everything we’ve been asked to do to be protected from deportation, and to continue working and supporting our family.
But after so many years, we simply began to live our lives and to build our homes where we were. The U.S. is our home now. My experience is not an isolated case — this is the experience of any TPS family in our country. I hope that Members of Congress can recognize this, as many of them are fathers and mothers, too.
The stories of TPS holders are stories of family, home, and community. Since the TPS program was terminated, our lives have been on hold. I now only have 9 months left before I’m permanently separated from my children. Kevin will be in his first semester in college.
Like me, hundreds of thousands of TPS holders are confronting this terrible reality, on the verge of losing our stability. Who are these TPS holders across America? When New Orleans was flooded after Hurricane Katrina, TPS holders were among the workers that helped rebuild the city. A business owner in Boston who employs dozens of Americans with well-paid jobs, and runs a multi-million dollar construction business holds TPS from El Salvador. In Dallas, a TPS holder who is an auto-mechanic has a son who recently joined the U.S. Marines — a young man who is willing to risk his life at the same time that his parents are at risk of losing their immigration status and everything they’ve built over many years in this country.
Most importantly, TPS holders are parents who are working to stop a potential humanitarian crisis and devastating family separations that no person deserves.
My family has given some of our best years to this country, and this is our home. Our lives are proof of the promise of resilient and well-grounded families, and we ask only for the chance to continue building our lives here. If we cannot find a permanent solution, I’ll be forced to look down the barrel of family separation on top of leaving my life behind to start over in a country I no longer know. Everything will be upended.
Only Congress has the power to address a plan to ensure that TPS holders and our families are able to remain permanently in the U.S. so that America’s values of integrity and family preservation win. While we are enthusiastic about actions taken by Democratic Congresswomen Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA - 40), Nydia Velázquez (NY - 7), and Yvette Clarke (NY - 9) in introducing H.R. 6, the Dream and Promise Act, we also know how politics often stands in the way of protecting families. We understand that only bipartisan legislation can ensure the resolution’s passage in the senate and provide permanent protections for us. We call on all elected officials to give us a fighting chance to keep our families together.
Jose Palma is the National Coordinator of the National TPS Alliance. He has lived in the Boston area for two decades and has four U.S.-born children ranging from 17 years old to 7 months.
