Maryland’s Democratic senators are hoping to secure permanent status for more than 400,000 residents who first came to the U.S. temporarily.
The bill would help those with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) gain residency in the U.S., ending a cycle by which holders have to apply to renew their status every six to 18 months. The status has been given to people whose home counties have been hit by a natural disaster, civil unrest or other disruption starting in 1990.
The legislation comes as TPS holders battle a decision from the Trump administration, which sought to end the status for those from Sudan, Haiti, El Salvador and Nicaragua, many of whom came to the U.S. years before. The prior administration argued that those countries had since recovered from the disasters and unrest.
“For decades, our country has welcomed and protected those fleeing violence and turmoil around the world,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said in a release.
“Many have lived here legally for over twenty years – and have come to call our country home. But over the last four years, the livelihoods of these individuals have been under constant threat. Now, alongside the Biden Administration, we must prioritize providing TPS recipients security and certainty.”
The bill would provide a path to residency for people from El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen who are TPS holders.
The bill, dubbed the SECURE Act, failed to advance when it was introduced last year, but the lawmakers hope that Biden’s immigration bill would become a vehicle for the legislation which will now be taken up in a Democrat-led Senate.
Biden has advocated for an eight-year path to citizenship for 11 million people within the U.S.
“If it were up to Democrats we would have done this a long time ago,” Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.).
“It is difficult to get Republicans to stand with us because they are in most cases a minority within their caucus,” he said of GOP lawmakers who back TPS status.
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