May 11, 2021
President Joseph R. Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
RE: REQUEST FOR INVESTIGATION OF RACIALLY DISPARATE DECISIONS REGARDING THE USE OF TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS
Dear President Biden:
On behalf of the undersigned 144 state, local, and national immigrant, labor, faith, civil rights, and legal organizations, we write to urge that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in consultation with the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS): (a) conduct a comprehensive audit and investigation of the administration’s internal regulatory and sub-regulatory policies regarding the utilization of Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which has led to disparate racial impacts in how and which countries are designated and when; and (b) designate or redesignate, at minimum, the following countries for Temporary Protected Status (TPS): Burkina Faso, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Honduras, Lebanon, Mali, Mauritania, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Sierra Leone. All are currently experiencing country conditions that satisfy one or more of the qualifying conditions for a designation of TPS under 8 U.S.C. § 1254(a), extensively documented by conditions experts and advocates. These countries and others should receive their timely due diligence for initial designation and redesignation for TPS. We have also shared this request with the Inspector Generals for both DHS and State in the hopes that they conduct independent investigations into the apparent racialization and politicization of TPS designation decisions.
Concerns of Racially and Politically Motivated TPS Decisionmaking
Notably, we are concerned that the State Department and White House senior advisors are in effect promoting anti-immigrant policies, including usurping the authority of (and subsequently preventing) DHS from making individualized country determinations on TPS, including the failure to use TPS to protect human life, keep families together, and serve other key domestic and foreign policy interests. While we are extremely supportive of the recent TPS designation for Ukraine, and later Afghanistan and Cameroon, we are deeply concerned that the administration’s processes regarding which countries are considered for TPS, and for how long, has led to a disturbing and undeniable outcome: the administration has thus far practiced a de facto policy of refusing or delaying designation of TPS for Black- and Brown-majority countries that clearly meet the statutory requirements. Additionally, the media and general public are becoming more and more acutely aware of the disparity in how TPS decisions differ based on the racial makeup of a country.
We are especially disappointed by this apparent racial bias in granting TPS to countries that clearly and unequivocally meet the statutory requirements. While non-Black majority countries are processed with appropriate urgency, as was the case with Ukraine, the U.S. Department of State has consistently failed to review, delayed review, or issued factually incorrect determinations on Black and Brown countries. For example, Ukraine’s humanitarian crisis sparked action within eight days, while Cameroon required years of sustained, forceful advocacy to finally break the Department’s inertia and achieve the necessary TPS designation. Advocates have requested that Ethiopia be evaluated for TPS for the majority of your administration due to severe armed conflict and extraordinary conditions—yet the Department of State has continued to stall TPS. Similarly, Brown-majority countries in Central America, including Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, continue to have their TPS designations languish. Thus, we request an investigation into possible racial bias in the TPS-decision making within the White House, DHS, and the Department of State.
TPS Must Be Revitalized and Fairly Utilized
The previous administration failed to even consider the use of initial designations and redesignations, resulting in four years’ worth of accrual of countries and people who should be eligible for TPS. While the Biden administration has rightfully designated or redesignated a number of countries for TPS since our last letter, many more are needed to alleviate the previous misuse of the program and respond to current humanitarian crises. We have observed that this administration, like previous administrations, continues to apply the TPS criteria too narrowly. Deportations to dangerous conditions have continued, even as evidence has mounted for these countries’ eligibility for humanitarian relief. TPS is a valuable and underused executive tool that would protect millions of people from being returned to untenable country conditions—in accordance with congressional intent—while simultaneously providing immigration relief to people in our country who have lived for decades without legal status or protection.
The Biden administration promised to “order an immediate review of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for vulnerable populations who cannot find safety in their countries ripped apart by violence or disaster,” working to “heal the wounds inflicted on immigrant communities and restore America’s moral leadership.” We also highlight one of the president’s first executive orders, “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government.” To keep that promise, TPS should be used broadly and boldly to safeguard lives, keep families together, boost the U.S. economy, and send a decisive foreign policy message that the United States will not send people back to conditions where their lives and freedom will be threatened. The administration should immediately use its clear executive authority to provide TPS protection warranted under the law and by morality.
With the continuing delay and possible failure to pass meaningful immigration reform via Congress, it is more important than ever for the administration to use the full breadth of its executive power to provide essential humanitarian protections. If the Biden administration wants to keep its campaign promises to build a better immigration system, TPS is one of the few remaining tools for bold and immediate change. We reiterate that there is no numerical limit on the number of people who can hold TPS. The statute also includes an explicit bar prohibiting non-constitutional legal challenges regarding the Secretary’s decision to designate, terminate, and extend designations for countries for TPS, adding another layer of protection for the Secretary of Homeland Security’s discretion. While other administrative actions from the Biden administration may have been slowed by the courts, TPS is in the best position to carry out administrative (and Congressional) intent without being enjoined. Congress created TPS as a mechanism to provide immediate relief to those who cannot and should not be returned to dangerous conditions. Bold use of TPS remains in line with both the letter and spirit of the program. These designations will not only benefit millions of individuals in the United States, but also their families, employers, and communities here and in their countries of origin.
Please do not allow your commitment to ensuring that the United States meets its responsibilities as both a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants to be compromised by political motivations.
If you have any questions regarding this letter, please feel free to contact Daniel Tse at dtse@haitianbridge.org and Lora Adams at lora@masadc.com.
Sincerely,
National
ACER, Inc
Adorers of the Blood of Christ, US Region
Advocating Opportunity
African Communities Together
African Diaspora for Good Governance
Alianza Americas
American Muslim Bar Association
Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP)
AsylumConnect
Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI)
Border Organizing Project
Bridges Faith Initiative
Cameroon Advocacy Network
CASA
Center for Gender & Refugee Studies
Church World Service
Climate Refugees
Comunidad Maya Pixan Ixim
Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, U.S. Provinces
Congregation of Saint Joseph
Disciples Refugee & Immigration Ministries
Doctors for Camp Closure
Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose
Dominican Sisters of Sparkill
Envision Freedom Fund
Ethiopian Community Development Council (ECDC)
First Focus on Children
Haiti Response Coalition
Haitian Bridge Alliance
Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti
International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP)
Justice Action Center
Justice Committee Albany Province of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet
Justice for Migrant Women
Leadership Conference of Women Religious
Leadership Team of the Felician Sisters of North America
Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative (MuslimARC)
Mutual Aid Immigration Network
National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
National Council of Churches
National Employment Law Project
National Immigrant Justice Center
National Immigration Law Center
National Immigration Project (NIPNLG)
National Partnership for New Americans
Office of Peace, Justice, and Ecological Integrity, Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth
Path With Heart
Presente.org
Quixote Center
RAICES
Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights
SFVI
Sisters of Charity Federation
Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Congregational Leadership
Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Western Province Leadership
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas
Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur EW
Sisters of St Joseph of Carondelet
Sisters of St. Joseph, Rochester, NY
Student Clinic for Immigrant Justice
Tahirih Justice Center
The United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society
U.S. Federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph
UndocuBlack Network
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
Witness at the Border
World Education Services, Inc.
Youthaiti
State and Local
Adhikaar
Al Otro Lado
American Friends Service Committee, Colorado
Arizona Justice For Our Neighbors
Association of Mexicans in North Carolina, Inc. (AMEXCAN)
Buen Vecino
Cabrini Immigrant Services of NYC, Inc.
California Immigrant Policy Center
Catholic Charities of Diocese of St. Augustine, FL
Catholic Charities of SW Kansas
Centro Romero
Chacón Center for Immigrant Justice at Maryland Carey Law
Church of Our Saviour/La Iglesia de Nuestro Salvador Episcopal
Church of the Ascension, NYC
Church Women United in New York State
Cleveland Jobs with Justice
CLUE VC and UUJMCA
CLUE Ventura County
Columbia Legal Services
Community Asylum Seekers Project
Connecticut Shoreline Indivisible
Dominican Sisters of Hope
Dominican Sisters Springfield IL JPIC Committee
Felician Sisters of San Antonio, Texas
Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project
Florida Immigrant Coalition
Friends of Broward Detainees
Greater Cleveland Immigrant Support Network
Hope Border Institute
Human Rights Initiative of North Texas
Human Rights Observation/Honduras
Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
Immigrant Action Alliance
Immigrant ARC
Immigrant Defenders Law Center
Immigrant Hope-Clifton NJ
Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project
Immigrant Legal Center of Boulder County
Interfaith Welcome Coalition
International Institute of New England
InterReligious Task Force on Central America
Jewish Voice for Peace, Atlanta chapter
Just Neighbors Ministry
Justice for Our Neighbors El Paso
Kentucky Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
Long Island Immigration Clinic, Sisters of St. Joseph, Brentwood, NY
Mississippi Center for Justice
New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice
New York Immigration Coalition
New York Justice for Our Neighbors, Inc.
New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG)
Ohio Immigrant Alliance
RAYS OF FREEDOM ORG
Rian Immigrant Center
Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network
San Bernardino Community Service Center, Inc
Seattle Immigrant Rights Action Group
SFV Indivisible
Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Office of Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation
Sisters of Saint Joseph
Sisters of Saint Joseph of Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, PA
Sisters of St. Dominic of Blauvelt, New York
Sisters of St. Francis of Oldenburg
Sisters of St. Joseph of Boston
Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, LA
Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield
Sisters of the Humility of Mary
Sisters of the Most Precious Blood
Sisters, Home Visitors of Mary
Social Justice Coalition
Social Justice Coalition of Central Lutheran Church, Portland
St. Walburg Monastery
The Legal Aid Society (New York)
Thompson Psychological Services, PLLC
TRUE ALLIANCE CENTER INC
Venezuelans and Immigrants Aid (VIA)
Wallingford Indivisible
Wayne Action for Racial Equality
Wesley Foundation Serving UCLA
Wilco Justice Alliance (Williamson County, TX)
Wind of the Spirit Immigrant Resource Center
cc: The Honorable Antony Blinken, Secretary of State
The Honorable Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security
The Honorable Diana R. Shaw, Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Inspector General, Department of State
The Honorable Joseph V. Cuffari, Inspector General, Department of Homeland Security