[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Page 19542]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petition or memorial was laid before the Senate and was 
referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-144. A resolution adopted by the General Court of the 
     Commonwealth of Massachusetts extending its support to the 
     temporary protected status program and urging the Department 
     of Homeland Security to continue the TPS program and support 
     immigrant and refugees escaping war, natural disasters, and 
     crime; to the Committee on the Judiciary.

                              Resolutions

       Whereas, the Commonwealth has a long and proud history of 
     being a state that supports, values and respects its 
     immigrants and refugees escaping war and natural disasters; 
     and
       Whereas, Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, is an 
     immigration status that provides employment authorization and 
     protection from deportation for foreign nationals who cannot 
     be safely returned to their home countries; and
       Whereas, the Department of Homeland Security will consider 
     whether to extend designations of TPS for all nationals that 
     currently hold TPS including more than 300,000 Salvadoran, 
     Honduran, Nicaraguan and Haitian immigrants; and
       Whereas, in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the 
     Department of Homeland Security will consider whether to 
     extend the designation for 12,526 residents living with TPS; 
     and
       Whereas, it is estimated that ending TPS for immigrants 
     from El Salvador, Haiti and Honduras would result in a $6.9 
     billion reduction to Social Security and Medicare 
     contributions over a decade and the deportation of these 
     individuals would cost taxpayers approximately $3.1 billion 
     dollars; and
       Whereas, that the Commonwealth recognizes the 
     overwhelmingly positive contributions of TPS holders and 
     their families to the economy, social fabric, diversity and 
     well-being of our community; now therefore be it
       Resolved, The Massachusetts General Court hereby extends 
     its support to the Temporary Protected Status program and 
     memorializes the Department of Homeland Security to continue 
     the TPS program and support immigrant and refugees escaping 
     war, natural disasters and crime; and be it further
       Resolved, That copies of these resolutions be transmitted 
     forthwith by the Clerk of the Senate to the President of the 
     United States, the Vice President of the United States, the 
     United States Secretary of Homeland Security, the 
     Massachusetts Congressional Delegation and the United States 
     Citizenship and Immigration Services.

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