Ranking Member Jayapal Hosts Hearing on Trump’s Attacks on TPS

WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Ranking Member of the Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee, today hosted a shadow hearing titled Kidnapped and Disappeared: Trump's Attacks on Temporary Protected Status (TPS).

"Eliminating TPS is yet another assault by Trump and Stephen Miller on our LEGAL immigration system, making it clear that their agenda has never just been about the 'worst of the worst'. It has always been about eliminating ALL immigration," said Jayapal. "Let's be clear: If they are successful in their efforts to terminate TPS, we will force people to return to countries where they literally will face death or life-threatening conditions. Thank you to all the witnesses who joined us today to shed light on this critical issue."

"The Court now faces a fundamental choice: whether to uphold the checks and balances at the heart of our Constitution, or to allow the Executive to disregard laws enacted by Congress. Its decision will determine the futures of Haitian and Syrian TPS holders, but its impact will extend far beyond those communities. Up to 1.3 million of our neighbors, caregivers, health care workers, and business owners could be stripped of status and made deportable to countries still facing humanitarian crises. We cannot afford to wait for the ruling of this case to come out for there to be protections available for people who are facing the devastating harms from illegal TPS terminations," said Emi MacLean, a Senior Staff Attorney at the ACLU of Northern California.

"UNITE HERE fights for all workers, regardless of where they were born, because our industries, our communities, and our economy depend on them. The workers in my union are parents, neighbors, community leaders. They are people like me: individuals who came to this country seeking safety and opportunity. As a union leader, I will continue to fight for them. But we need action from Congress. We need to protect TPS and we need pathways to citizenship," said Rose Denis, President of UNITE HERE Local 355.

"I lead 1199 SEIU's Homecare Division, responsible for a remarkable community of 60,000 home health aides and personal assistants. A large number of our members are Haitian immigrants, including a significant portion with TPS, many of whom have lived and worked legally in the U.S. since before 2010, when Haiti was first designated for TPS. Here's what it looks like if and when Haiti's TPS ends: Critical operations at local hospitals will be canceled due to the absence of dozens of staff who prep the operating room, hundreds of elderly residents will wake to their favorite CNA missing, people with disabilities will lose their PCA as they self-deport in fear of being deported or languishing in detention, and some people will die. Let's be clear. This doesn't have to happen, and it's good for no one," said Katia Guillaume, Vice President of SEIU Local 1199.

"My mother's journey, marked by resilience, is a testament to the strength and determination of TPS holders everywhere. While the challenges we face are real and frightening, our hope is even larger than the fear we face. Advocating for status security ensures the stability of families and the future leaders of the U.S. I urge Congress to pass a pathway to citizenship for longtime TPS holders like my mother," said Cristel, the U.S. citizen daughter of a Salvadoran TPS holder.

"The conditions back in Venezuela have not changed since the extraction of the unelected dictator Nicolas Maduro. If we were to be sent back, we would be apprehended and tortured upon any of our arrival. Congress must enact laws that protect Venezuelan TPS holders like me," said Enrique, a Venezuelan TPS holder.

TPS is a designation that allows immigrants who are currently in the United States and unable to return to their home country due to armed conflict, environmental disaster or epidemic, or other extraordinary and temporary conditions to remain in the country. It has long been a program with bipartisan support and used by Presidents from both parties to protect millions of immigrants from being forced to return to unsafe situations. As the Trump administration works to cancel TPS for multiple countries, the fate of the program hangs in the balance, awaiting Supreme Court action.

This was the eighth hearing in this series, each of which has focused on a different aspect of immigration oversight. The others have focused on Trump's attacks on children and families, assault on Minnesota, detention abuses, Trump's assault on Chicago, families that have been torn apart, unlawful third-country deportations, and efforts to undermine due process.

Jayapal was joined at the hearing by Representatives Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09), J. Luis Correa (CA-46), James P. McGovern (MA-02), Adelita Grijalva (AZ-07), LaMonica McIver (NJ-10), Deborah Ross (NC-02), Darren Soto (FL-09), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25).

Issues: Immigration