Stuart Leiderman leiderman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: leiderman: parsing foreignersw: tps'ers slipping from view?
Below, disconcerting but forecastable. As I've been saying and advising
all along, not all "foreigners" are "immigrants." TPS, by government
definition is a category of its own, somewhere between "refugee" and
"immigrant." And because the numbers are/have become so large - purely a
reflection of dangerous overseas conditions, as officially acknowledged
and screened by American civil servants - it stands to reason that the
administration has an upper number of "foreigners" in mind, and adding TPS
would increase that by fifty percent or more. Of course, the parsing of
foreigners pits one category against the other - anyone gaming scenarios
would discover this sly technique - and complicates humanitarian defense.
Complicates, but doesn't eradicate.
Sometimes I think that being born and raised in and around Washington,
D.C. at the time of its major racial transition, is why I didn't become
just a white person's activist...hiking trails, Egyptian cotton sheets,
patio tomatoes, petition-of-the-month clubs, carpool commuting, roadside
litter walks, etc. Diversity has a habit of wrinkling careers... Let's
hear it for wrinkles.
= = = = = = =
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article198879294.html
[photo] Haitian activists and immigrants
protest on City Hall Plaza in Boston, Friday, Jan. 26, 2018. Haitian
community leaders complained last week that the
Trump administration's delays in re-registering those living in the U.S.
legally through the Temporary Protected Status program would lead to job
losses, travel problems and other issues for Haitians. Charles Krupa AP
TPS solution for Haitians not a priority in high-stakes immigration debate
By Alex Daugherty
adaugherty@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
February 07,
2018 02:46 PM
Updated February
07, 2018 03:00 PM
WASHINGTON
The U.S. Senate isn’t seriously considering a path to permanent residency or
citizenship for more than 300,000 Temporary Protected Status recipients
as part
of an immigration deal to keep 689,000 Dreamers from being deported.
Two senators involved in ongoing immigration talks, Florida Democrat Bill
Nelson and Arizona Republican Jeff Flake, said there aren’t active serious
discussions about the fate of TPS holders from Haiti,
El Salvador, Nicaragua
and Honduras.
“The bipartisan group is trying to get some consensus of what can pass that
will protect the DACA Dreamers,” Nelson said. “What I expect is within two
weeks we are going to get a DACA solution. I would hope it includes TPS,
but if
it messes up getting votes in order to pass the Dreamers, I think that
would not
be considered then and would be held for more comprehensive immigration.”
Flake said a proposal did exist at one point to take some visas from the
diversity lottery and apply them to TPS recipients. But the idea, part of an
immigration proposal by Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Dick Durbin,
D-Ill.,
was rejected by President Donald Trump.
TPS has been discussed at recent Senate immigration meetings, according to
Flake, but the topic isn’t under serious consideration as Senate
Democrats and
Republicans try to negotiate an immigration proposal that will receive 60
votes
in the upper chamber, along with the approval of the GOP-controlled House of
Representatives and Trump.
“It’s been discussed but nothing firm,” Flake said, adding there’s “no
serious discussion” about TPS.
The Senate stance on TPS comes after Trump reportedly blasted TPS recipients
in a White House meeting, saying, “Why do we need more Haitians? Take them
out,” and “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come
here?” — in reference to immigrants living and working legally in the United
States under TPS and to making changes to the diversity lottery system.
Several senators, including Florida Republican Marco Rubio, have said in
recent weeks that any immigration bill should focus on finding a solution
for
DACA recipients in exchange for stronger border security measures, though
Trump
has said he wants to end the diversity lottery and cut legal immigration as
part of any deal to give DACA recipients and DACA-eligible unauthorized
immigrants a path to citizenship. Trump’s proposal is a non-starter for most
Democrats.
“Legal status for those currently in DACA & stronger Border Security has
overwhelming support & is ideal starting point for Senate debate,” Rubio
tweeted on Tuesday.
South Florida is home to the nation’s largest
concentration of Haitians, along with a sizable number of Salvadorans,
Hondurans and Nicaraguans.
Nelson said “you have to create a different kind of category” for current
TPS recipients, because a mass exodus of 60,000 Haitians from the U.S.
would have ripple effects on the economies of both South Florida
and Haiti.
Multiple bills that would provide a path to permanent residency or
citizenship
for some or all TPS recipients have been proposed in the House of
Representatives, but a vote on any TPS bill isn’t imminent.
“In solving immigration problems you really have to also solve what are you
doing with TPS because ... there’s going to be cases where, for example
Haiti,
you can’t return 60,000 people all at once to Haiti,” Nelson said. “The
economy
of Haiti could
not swallow that, but that’s more for immigration reform.”
Miami Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen has signed on to multiple bills
that would give TPS recipients a path to permanent citizenship and
complained
that most members of Congress were unaware of the issue. On Wednesday she
said
there would be more of an appetite to find a solution for TPS recipients if
DACA recipients and DACA-eligible immigrants had already been protected from
deportation by Congress.
“There just isn’t room in people’s hearts right now,” Ros-Lehtinen said.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said last month he would agree to
debate and vote on an immigration bill in the Senate, though he didn’t
agree on
a specific proposal. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi gave a lengthy
speech
on Wednesday opposing a massive budget deal that would keep the
government open
because “the package does nothing to advance bipartisan legislation to
protect
Dreamers.”
The Department of Homeland Security canceled TPS for Haiti,
El Salvador and
Nicaragua in
recent months and extended Honduras’
TPS designation until July in order to formulate a final decision. Nearly
60,000 Haitians, 200,000 Salvadorans, 2,500 Nicaraguans and potentially
57,000
Hondurans could be forced to leave the country in 2019 unless Congress
passes
legislation.
“I think that we really have to knuckle down and bring our nation into a
21st century immigration system. It’s ridiculous the way we are operating
right
now,” said Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., who has also proposed multiple
bills to
prevent TPS recipients from being deported.
“The lack of compassion, the demonization of immigrants, it’s not healthy
for our country.”
Alex Daugherty: 202-383-6049, @alextdaugherty
Thank you. If you wish to join or unsubscribe please click on this link:
//www.freelists.org/list/corbettlist
