Tag: Temporary Protected Status

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!

TPS extended for Somalis (for the umpteenth time)

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Why on earth we even have Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somalis is beyond me since we already have a massive refugee and asylum resettlement program for them and at a time when Somalia’s President is urging those in the diaspora to come home!

Come home to Somalia!

Readers TPS was started for the primary purpose of helping mostly Central Americans get to stay in the US after they illegally arrived here by the tens of thousands, but didn’t fit into the definition of “refugee.”   They really need to take the “temporary” out of the name of the program.

Supposedly those applying would have been in the US prior to whatever incident (like a hurricane, earthquake, civil war etc.) happened and out of the goodness of our hearts we let them stay on until their country can recover—-some for more than a decade.

So what happens when TPS is not extended?  They stay on anyway.

The 470 Somalis who have been registered in the TPS program can now legally stay for another 18 months!  Who knows how those 470 came to be in the US in the first place (or when!), some may have arrived illegally or over-stayed a visa.

Here is a brief news story from the TC Daily Planet  (hat tip: Tonya):

Temporary Protected Status for nationals of Somalia will be extended by 18 months effective March 18, 2014, according to Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Rand Beers, in a statement to Mshale on Wednesday (Nov. 6).

About 470 Somalis applied for the last extension and redesignation in September 2012, according to a USCIS spokesperson.

Temporary Protected Status, or TPS as it is commonly known, is a designation by the United States Secretary of Homeland Security that “due to conditions in the country that temporarily prevent the country’s nationals from returning safely, or in certain circumstances, where the country is unable to handle the return of its nationals adequately”.

Here is the USCIS website that explains this phoney-baloney program.  And, here are the countries whose nationals may apply at the moment.

Here is a Dept. of Justice site I just found.  It tells us which countries were given TPS and when (except it doesn’t give the date of the designation for Somalis???).

Note that countries like Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador were designated in 1999 and 2001 respectively and have been extended many times—Honduras 18 times! Nicaragua 18 times! El Salvador 10 times!  Why are they (tens of thousands) still here?

When we first began writing RRW, Liberians were allowed to stay under TPS (which allows them to work, get drivers licenses, etc), but I see the program for Liberia has ended.  However, we didn’t deport the Liberians who had taken root in certain American cities, instead they have hunkered down and are waiting for ‘Comprehensive Immigration Reform’ to receive amnesty surely like all the others whose TPS has expired!

In fact, the feds are having trouble getting the Haitians signed up because most don’t bother with the paperwork expecting Obama will soon legalize them all anyway.

Just a reminder, back in January the new President of Somalia traveled around the US asking Somalis to come home and help re-build Somalia, here.  Excellent idea for those who have gained skills at US taxpayer expense—help Somalia recover and let’s stop the refugee flow to America.

“Temporary” refugee should get legal residency says 6th Circuit Court of Appeals

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

And, we should strike the word “alien” from the US Code says Senior Judge Damon J. Keith.

Judge Damon J. Keith: the word “alien” is offensive and demeaning

I thought this story might just contain a little nugget of information on ‘Temporary Protected Status‘—another backdoor amnesty program for aliens who got into the US illegally and then because of a storm (decades ago!) or an earthquake or a civil war, the US declared anyone already here from that country could stay “temporarily,” but there is nothing temporary about this program.  The Salvadorans will tell you about that!

Most recently, the Obama Administration granted “temporary” refugee status to any Syrians already in the US.

To my knowledge, no one group has ever gone home!  And, I’m not sure, but I think those with TPS will all get to stay and become Legal Permanent Residents under S.744 (the Gang’s bill) if it should become law.

Now comes what I thought was a run-of-the-mill press release from an immigration law firm, but with an intriguing twist near the end. (Emphasis is mine).

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders who entered the United States illegally may now be eligible to ad adjust their status to “Lawful Permanent Resident” (LPR), according to a recent groundbreaking decision by a United States Court of Appeals.  The decision serves as a stunning departure from previous Unites States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) policy requiring TPS holders to first leave the United States before applying for LPR status, a process complicated by potential ten year bars from re-entry and additional obstacles facing those immigrants with previously unlawful presence in the country.  Attorney Ryan Korsunsky of Wites & Kapetan believes that the Court’s decision is a step in the right direction.  “USCIS policy on  adjusting TPS status should account for the uniqueness of an individual’s situation, and not treat all immigrants alike based solely on how they entered the country, which in many cases was over a decade ago.”

TPS holders come to the United States from foreign countries experiencing unsafe or extraordinary conditions, including armed conflict and environmental disasters.  Currently USCIS designates immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, and Syria as eligible to apply for TPS if they meet additional statutory requirements.  During a designated temporary period TPS holders are not removable from the Unites States, can be employed by obtaining an Employment Authorization Document (EAD), and may be granted authority to travel.  Most importantly, as it relates to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), USCIS regulation states a TPS holder “cannot be detained by DHS on the basis of his or her immigration status.”

The case, which came from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, is called Flores, et al. v. USCIS, and involves Saady Suazo, a Honduran national granted TPS in 1999 [temporary?—ed] after entering the United States without inspection (EWI) in 1998 [illegally—ed].  Suazo married a U.S. citizen in 2010, with whom he is raising a minor child, and applied to adjust his immigration status on the basis of his marriage.  Suazo’s application was denied by USCIS in accordance with the policy preventing those who entered the country illegally from adjusting their status to LPR.  The Court of Appeals reversed the decision, giving Suazo the requisite eligibility to apply for an adjustment to LPR status.  The Court found that the TPS statute allowed for Suazo to be considered in lawful nonimmigrant status for the purpose of adjusting his status.  The Court also referred to the U.S.’s current immigration system a “archaic and convoluted” and described the process Suazo would have faced under previous USCIS policy as “a waste of energy, time, government resources, and will have a negative effect on his family-United States citizens.”

The Obama Administration will likely not defend the present law by taking the Court of Appeals decision to the US Supreme Court.

Here is what I found most interesting.  Senior Judge Damon J. Keith declared the word “alien” offensive and said that it should be stricken from the US Code:

Judge Damon J. Keith, the author of the Court’s opinion, also denounced the term “alien” as offensive and demeaning, urging Congress to eliminate it entirely from the United States Code.

By the way, the definition of “alien” is simply someone born in another country who has not acquired citizenship.  So what word would the Judge find to describe such a person?  They are always, always! seeking to change the language.

Who is Judge Damon J. Keith?  Here he is being feted on his 90th birthday last year.  I don’t have the time to search much but he played a role in several decisions including ones involving the Communist Party in the US and I especially found this reference in the wikipedia page for Bernardine Dorhn interesting.

On October 14, 1970, Bernardine Rae Dohrn was added to the Federal Bureau of Investigations list of the “10 Most Wanted” fugitives. She used several aliases, including Bernardine Rae Ohrnstein, H.T. Smith, and Marion Del Gado. The FBI removed Dohrn from its “10 Most Wanted” list in December 1973, after District Judge Damon J. Keith dismissed the case against the Weathermen.

Photo is from The Damon Keith Collection, here.

Our complete archive on Temporary Protected Status may be found by clicking here.

Related?  See James Simpson—GOP immigration plan devised by Communist Party—at World Net Daily.

Michelle Malkin gets TPS scam out to a broader audience

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

We have been writing a lot about Temporary Protected Status lately, here’s our archive, but having Michelle Malkin pen a piece at Human Events assures the topic a much broader audience.  I heard her discussing it on Fox News over the weekend as well.

Entitled, ‘Object Lesson: “Temporary” amnesty never dies,’ it begins:

Does America lack “compassion” and “humanity” for uninvited foreigners? Quite the contrary. While open-borders activists rail against “injustice” and demand new “pathways to citizenship,” official U.S. policy rewards countless line-jumpers with permanent residency and taxpayer-subsidized benefits.

Case in point: the massive “Temporary Protected Status” (TPS) program run by the Department of Homeland Security.

In theory, as the DHS website describes it, the Secretary of Homeland Security “may designate a foreign country for TPS due to conditions in the country that temporarily prevent the country’s nationals from returning safely, or in certain circumstances, where the country is unable to handle the return of its nationals adequately.” Those conditions include hurricanes, environmental catastrophes, civil war, epidemics and other “extraordinary and temporary conditions.”

The U.S. allows illegal aliens from TPS-designated countries to live here, work here, be protected from detention or deportation, and travel freely. It’s essentially a bad-weather pass into the U.S. Whenever a natural disaster strikes, we allow legions of foreigners who entered illegally — mostly from Latin America — to stay here while their homelands recover.  [Somalia, Syria and Liberia too!–ed]

Eligible for Obamacare!

In the meantime, TPS winners can apply for a panoply of other immigration benefits and protections and file for “adjustment of status” to pave the way to permanent legalization. In fact, the official draft application for Obamacare lists “Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Applicant for Temporary Protected Status (TPS)” as an “eligible immigration status.”

Yep, that means you don’t even have to be a legit, approved TPS designee to qualify for Obamacare. If you merely filed paperwork to be an “applicant” for TPS, you’re in like Flynn!

The hitch is that temporary “refugees” never go home.  Read it all.

American-Arab Anti-discrimination Committee wants Temporary Protected Status for Syrians extended

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Not just an extension of time to sign up (which doesn’t end until September anyway), but a whole new designation so all the newest Syrians who got into America since the first TPS was made available can sign up too.

They all want in now that amnesty appears to be on the way!

Here is the press release yesterday from the pro-Arab group.  By the way the first TPS for Syrians was supported by federal refugee contractors Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) and the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI), as well as the lobbying arm for the contractors—-Refugee Council USA (RCUSA), here.*

This is what they are really after:

The first TPS designation required that the Syrians applying had to have been continually in the US prior to March 29, 2012 and apparently many more have come after that deadline.  They want to be sure to get all their nationals signed up!    The ADC doesn’t say this in their press release, you have to go to the linked pdf —a ten page document addressed to Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano—to get the fine points.

As we have pointed out on many previous occasions, most recently here, there is nothing temporary about Temporary Protected Status!

* Makes no sense to me why refugee contractors who must find work for legitimate refugees (who are really struggling) support amnesty (and they do!) and other job-stealing forms of immigration like TPS.  The only thing that makes sense is that they are in the business of supplying future voters for the Democrat Party and to hell with the well-being of the people in their care.