Day: November 25, 2013

In wake of typhoon, push is on for Temporary Protected Status for Filipinos

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Problem is, once granted the “temporary” right to live, work, get a drivers license legally in America they don’t go home!  About a hundred thousand illegal Salvadorans make that point daily—they’ve been here since 2001 under TPS status and whatever natural disaster gave them the right to stay has long since been forgotten.

Two peas in a pod! Senators McCain and Rubio want any legal or illegal Filipinos in US to get to stay!

Usually granted for 18 months, TPS designation is just extended and extended as we saw here recently with Somali TPS.

If this lobbying push is successful anyone from the Philippines in the US legally (on a limited visa of some sort) or illegally can apply to stay under TPS and then when/if Congress passes so-called ‘Comprehensive Immigration Reform’ they will get to stay forever!

From Global Nation (emphasis mine):

WASHINGTON, D.C.—As Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for undocumented Filipinos picked up bipartisan congressional support, the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) urged the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to grant the status.

Currently allowed under immigration laws for countries impacted by a natural disaster resulting in a “substantial, but temporary, disruption of living conditions,” TPS will provide temporary immigration relief to undocumented Filipino immigrants currently residing in the US.

In a letter to DHS Acting Secretary Rand Beers, NaFFAA national chair Eduardo Navarra wrote that “this benefit will alleviate their fears of deportation to a devastated country and allow them to work and stay in the US temporarily. With this authorization, Filipino nationals can continue providing material and financial support to the homeland, especially at a time when they are in dire need of help.”

J.T. Mallonga, NaFFAA national vice chair and president of the Filipino American Legal and Defense Fund (FALDEF), explains that there are precedents where the US administration acted on similar requests.

“Following the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti two years ago, the US designated TPS to Haitian nationals, allowing them to continue living and working in the country for 18 months,” Mallonga said. “The same should be done to Filipinos, and it must be done soon.”

Other nationals from countries devastated by natural disasters, such as Honduras, Sudan and El Salvador, have also been granted TPS before.   [And, they are all still here! because even if TPS does expire, no one deports them!—ed]

Obama can designate TPS without Congress, but some Senators and Members of Congress are on board with the proposal.

With members of Congress weighing in on the issue, Navarra has conveyed his thanks to a bipartisan group of US Senators and US Representatives who have endorsed the call for TPS.

“Although congressional approval is not required, their strong message of support is very encouraging,” Navarra said. “We hope more members of Congress will do the same.”

In a Nov. 19 letter signed by 20 US Senators, the signatories assert that “providing TPS is critical to humanitarian relief efforts as it both protects individuals who would be endangered by returning to their country of origin and it allows the home country more time to recover before accepting returnees.”

Among those signing the letter are Senators Harry Reid, John McCain, Robert Menendez, Marco Rubio, Mazie K. Hirono, Richard Durbin, Orrin Hatch, Barbara Boxer, Tim Kaine, and Patrick Leahy. On the House side, 30 US Representatives called on DHS to “exercise its authority to designate the Philippines” for TPS, considering the “daunting rescue and restoration efforts” facing the country. The signatories include Representatives Edward Royce, Zoe Lofgren, Trent Franks. Robert Scott, Xavier Becerra, Judy Chu, Peter King, Colleen Hanabusa, Tammy Duckworth, and Michael Honda.

The next time you hear someone say, ‘I’m o.k. with legal immigration, it’s illegal I have a problem with,’ remind them that Refugee Resettlement, the Diversity Visa Lottery and Temporary Protected Status are all legal programs!

Austria: Mostly Muslim asylum-seekers demand right to live in Austria

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment
“Asylum-seekers” camp in Vienna church

Or, at least be given the opportunity to move on to another European country to try for asylum if rejected by Austria.

Here is the story from Press-TV (hat tip: Joanne).  Be sure to watch the film clip accompanying this short story.  Will this one day be happening on the streets of American cities?

Refugee Protest Camp Vienna was founded a year ago, when a group of Somali refugees demonstrated outside Aussie parliament for weeks. For their one-year anniversary, the group organized a protest outside a refugee camp in Traiskirchen, south of Vienna. The movement is against refugee and deportation policies of the European Union and Austria. There are around 52,000 refugees living in Austria and 22,000 asylum-seekers in the country are waiting for authorities to decide their future.

Refugee Protest Camp Vienna is demanding legal residency status for refugees in Austria. They are also asking for those who are refused asylum to have their fingerprints removed from the government’s database, so they can apply for asylum in other European countries.

The EU law dictates that migrants must have their claims processed in the country where they first arrive. If their application is rejected, they risk being deported to their country of origin.

At the protest we met Syed Muhammed Mustafa, a refugee from Pakistan, who has spent some time in the Traiskirchen camp.

Most asylum-seekers from Pakistan get rejected in Austria without their case being reviewed individually. This is unlike other EU Member States.

Recently the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, announced a programme involving 17 countries to receive refugees from Syria. Austria is one of them and is set to accept up to 500 refugees from Syria and neighbouring countries in 2014. However the measure has been criticised by campaigners as insufficient for the growing needs of refugees.

We have written previously about “refugees” in Austria (click here).

It is time to read about Al-Hijra the Islamic Doctrine of Immigration, if you haven’t done so already.  The invaders want into those Gates of Vienna from which they were turned back centuries ago.