“This decision is ethically, morally, and legally wrong,” said […]
"Many are on the front line helping our state combat COVID-19. "I think what we have now is momentum, momentum to continue organizing locally and nationally for a permanent fix for both TPS and DACA recipients," said Marleine Bastien, of Family Action Network Movement. Democrats and Republicans have for years struggled to agree on a path to citizenship for so-called Dreamers and people in the DACA program who came to the U.S. as children. Lili Montalvan, who came from her native El Salvador over 20 years ago, is one of them. Many of them are homeowners with mortgages,” Joseph said. NBC 6’s Nathalia Ortiz reports.On Friday, Bastien and a group of immigrant activists and community leaders in South Florida held an online meeting to discuss how to pass the Dream and Promise Act, which distinguishes itself from the Dream Act because it also calls for TPS holders to gain permanent status. Uncertainty reigns for immigrants with temporary status in the era of COVID-19. "They highlighted the challenges of living and working in limbo during the COVID-19 pandemic and asked Congress for permanent protections and a path to citizenship.The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that President Donald Trump's administration can't end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that allows more than a half million young, undocumented immigrants to work.It's hard for advocates to campaign every 18 months to renew temporary protected status, he said, and people with that status deserve to gain permanent residence. "I probably would not be alive today," Bonilla said on Thursday's call.
"Through the TPS program, the federal government allows immigrants from countries deemed unsafe to stay and work in the U.S. for six to 18 months at a time. "The uncertainty of people's immigration status is compounded by the stress of the pandemic, Bonilla said.The Democrat-led U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill last year called the American Dream and Promise Act that lays out a path to permanent residency and eventual citizenship to people in the DACA and TPS programs, Rivlin said.DACA remains in place, but its future and the futures of the nearly 650,000 people in the program remain uncertain.
She's earning a master's degree in marriage and family therapy now. The designation has been extended so many times that many recipients have lived in the U.S. for decades.
"We are urging our senators, especially those in Florida, who have a big role to play - Senator Rick Scott and Senator Marco Rubio - to take this bill up in the senate,” said Bastien.“Their spending power is in excess of $15 billion and they pay over $588 million in taxes, so this is not, you know, just people sitting around doing nothing, taking resources. The TPS program is used to protect people from deportation when it would be dangerous for them to return to those countries.