Cortez Masto, Colleagues Urge Biden Administration to Designate TPS for Guatemalans Living in the U.S.

Las Vegas, Nev. - U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto joined Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and more than a dozen of their Senate colleagues in calling on President Joe Biden to designate Temporary Protected Status for Guatemalan nationals living in the U.S.

"We write to urgently request that your administration provide temporary humanitarian protections for Guatemalan nationals living in the United States by either designating the country for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) or authorizing Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) for Guatemalan nationals," the senators wrote. "Guatemala presently faces significant and overlapping natural disasters leading to food insecurity, corruption, and violence that impede the ability of Guatemalan nationals currently in the United States to return home safely at this time."

"Guatemala has long experienced significant environmental disasters, which have worsened food insecurity and displaced a sizable amount of the population," they added. "Despite the efforts underway under the new administration, a sober assessment of conditions in the country today would support the conclusion that Guatemala is unable to adequately handle the return of the significant number of nationals currently in the United States."

Established by the U.S. Congress through the Immigration Act of 1990, TPS is a temporary, renewable program that provides relief from removal and access to work permits for eligible foreign nationals who are unable to return safely to their home countries due to natural disasters, armed conflicts, or other extraordinary conditions. Over 400,000 people with TPS are currently living in communities across the United States-including about 6,300 TPS holders in Nevada-where they contribute billions of dollars every year in taxes.

Full text of the letter is available HERE.

The first and only Latina Senator, Senator Cortez Masto has consistently supported immigrant communities in Nevada, calling onthe administration to take action to protect TPS holders and other immigrants, as well as leading commonsense legislation to fix our broken immigration system. She has worked to pass meaningful immigration reform that balances critical border security measures with a path to citizenship for Dreamers, TPS holders, and essential workers, and she's pushed legislation to allow Dreamers and TPS holders to work in Congress.

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