Maryland’s Democratic senators hope to secure permanent status for more than 400,000 residents who came to the US temporarily for the first time.
The bill would help people with temporary protected status (TPS) get residency in the US, ending a cycle where holders must apply every six to 18 months to renew their status. The status has been granted to people whose homeland has been affected by natural disaster, civil unrest or other disruption since 1990.
The legislation comes as TPS holders fight a decision by the Trump administration, which sought to end status for those from Sudan, Haiti, El Salvador and Nicaragua, many of whom came to the US years earlier. The previous government argued that those countries had since recovered from the disasters and unrest.
“For decades, our country has welcomed and protected those fleeing violence and unrest around the world,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen
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“Many have been living here legally for more than twenty years – and come to call our country. But for the past four years, the livelihoods of these individuals have been under constant threat. Now, in addition to the Biden administration, we must prioritize providing safety and security to TPS receivers. “
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, called the SECURE Act, did not come into being when it was introduced last year, but lawmakers are hoping that Biden’s immigration law will become a vehicle for the legislation that will now pass into a Democrat-led Senate.
Biden has advocated an eight-year path to citizenship for 11 million people in the US.
“If it were up to the Democrats, we would have done this a long time ago,” Sen. Ben Cardin
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“It’s hard to get Republicans on our side because in most cases they are a minority in their caucus,” he said of the GOP lawmakers who support TPS status.