For Immediate Release: February 9, 2021
Contact: Mario Carrillo at 915.449.6463 or press@wearehome.us
Washington, DC — Yesterday, Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) announced the reintroduction of the Safe Environment from Countries Under Repression and in Emergency (SECURE) Act, which will give Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders Deferred Enforcement Departure (DED) recipients a path to permanent residency and eventual citizenship.
The following is a statement from Nathaly Arriola, We Are Home’s campaign director:
“Today’s bill introduction is a positive step by Senators Van Hollen and Cardin in ensuring that America is able to more honestly uphold its ideal of a country that welcomes immigrants and recognizes their humanity. During the last four years, the previous administration betrayed this founding principle, as its unabashed cruelty towards immigrants stoked constant uncertainty and fear for TPS holders.
For hundreds of thousands of people, TPS and DED are the only protection from deportation available to them, this despite the vast majority of them having lived in the country for decades, raising families, and building lives for themselves here.
No one should have to suffer through a continual fear of losing their friends, family, and home at a single moment’s notice.The We Are Home campaign encourages Congress to quickly pass the SECURE Act, provide protection and citizenship for people whose countries have been ravaged by natural disasters, political unrest and humanitarian crises, and for whom the U.S. is the country they call home.
We stand with the majority of Americans who support legalization for undocumented immigrants and reject the chaos of the last four years. We welcome citizenship for TPS holders and DED recipients and will keep up the fight for citizenship for all 11 million undocumented people who call this country home.”
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