[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 176 (Tuesday, October 31, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S6910]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                 Temporary Protected Status Immigrants

  Mr. President, we have also had a pretty vigorous discussion in this 
body and around the country about the Dreamers. These are young people 
who were brought to the United States as kids. They have grown up 
knowing only America as their home. They pledge allegiance to our flag, 
and it is really important that in the coming months, we ensure that 
they have a secure home and place in the country. It is imperative that 
we address that issue soon because, of course, President Trump has 
started the clock ticking on their deportation early next year.
  But I come to the floor today to talk about another group of people 
who have not gotten much news coverage but really demand the attention 
of the country. That is the future of about 300,000 immigrants who came 
to the United States legally.
  They came here escaping horrific conditions in their home country--
conditions brought about by war, by earthquakes, and by other natural 
disasters. They came to the United States under a program called 
Temporary Protected Status or TPS. It is a humanitarian program that 
says, if you are fleeing a country because of one of these horrific 
conditions, during that short period of time, you can legally come to 
the United States.
  For example, Liberia was granted TPS status because of the Ebola 
crisis. Some Liberians came to the United States to seek refuge and 
were granted legal status here under that humanitarian program. Haiti 
was granted TPS status after the 2010 earthquake, which killed over 
300,000 Haitians. El Salvador was also granted TPS status because of a 
devastating earthquake that took place in El Salvador. So these are 
individuals who came to the country legally under this program to grant 
protection to people who are fleeing devastating situations. Many of 
these TPS individuals have been in the United States for over 20 years 
now. They are small business men and women. They are homeowners. They 
are contributing to our communities and to our economy.
  The reason I am raising this issue today is that 5 days from now, 
next week, the Department of Homeland Security will announce whether 
they will continue to allow these individuals to stay in this country, 
individuals who came here with this protected status, individuals who 
came here legally, individuals who, in many cases, have been here 20 
years or more. In 5 days the Department of Homeland Security will 
decide whether individuals who came here from El Salvador and Honduras 
and then made their home here--whether they can stay or whether they 
will be subject to deportation early next year. The decision by DHS on 
Haitians who came here under the protected status program is due on 
November 23.
  I think we can all see that while this matter has not hit the 
headlines yet, it will soon be grabbing more attention around the 
country.
  I come to the floor today to call upon President Trump and to call 
upon Acting Secretary Duke to make the right call and to make the 
humane call to allow these individuals to stay in the United States. 
They are hard-working people who have been playing by the rules.
  Let me share the story of Norma Herrera and Miguel Espinal, who fled 
Honduras back in 1998. Seeking a better life, they fled after Hurricane 
Mitch. The United States decided that the hurricane was so severe and 
that it had such catastrophic humanitarian consequences that we should 
create that little window of time when people could come here legally. 
They applied, and they were granted protected status. They have worked 
very hard to build and create the American dream in Riverdale, MD. They 
have a 14-year-old son, Miguel Junior. He is a freshman at Don Bosco 
Cristo Rey High School in Takoma Park. Unfortunately, their son now 
lives in fear that if the Trump administration doesn't extend that 
protected status next month, his parents could be deported to Honduras 
early next year. In other words, if TPS is not extended for Hondurans 
and others from those other countries, they will be in the same 
position.
  Jose Ramos is a TPS resident who owns his own freight company and has 
his own home. He is actually a job creator. He employs other people in 
our community. The question is whether he will be allowed to stay.
  I want to emphasize that in order to continue under the TPS status, 
these individuals have to be vetted every 6 to 18 months to make sure 
that they are here working and that they are law-abiding. The 
statistics overwhelmingly show that these are exactly the kinds of 
people we want to have in the United States helping in our communities 
and helping build jobs. For example, 94 percent of the men and 82 
percent of the women are working, and they have provided community 
services as well. In fact, many of these individuals are helping 
provide hurricane relief down in Texas.
  So I come to the floor today simply to urge our colleagues to call 
upon the President and the Trump administration to make the right 
decision with respect to these individuals who, No. 1, came to the 
United States legally, under a humanitarian program; No. 2, go through 
a periodic vetting process to ensure that they are playing by all the 
rules; and No. 3, in many cases they have been here as long as 20 
years, have built small businesses, are living in our communities, and 
have children who are American citizens.
  I call upon all of us to ask the administration to make the right 
decision next week so that these people who have contributed to our 
communities and to our country are allowed to stay and not be subject 
to deportation early next year.
  Let's do the right thing for our country. Let's make sure that we 
continue to allow these individuals who have played by the rules and 
who have come here legally to stay and continue to contribute to our 
country.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida.
  Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in 
morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.