Democratic Senators introduced the SECURE Act for TPS Holders to grant Citizenship

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Democratic Senators from Maryland Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin have introduced the SECURE Act. It would provide a pathway to permanent resident status for over 400,000 immigrants who have the TPS (Temporary Protected Status) after fleeing natural disasters and civil unrest in their home countries and relocating to the United States. Both senators believe Biden’s early moves to reform the US immigration system have created a political environment where the SECURE Act could find possibly become a reality. The administration of former President Donald Trump had argued that immigrants living in the US with the TPS should be deported back to their home countries as the status was meant to be temporary and the conditions first compelled them to immigrate to the US had likely improved.

Moreover, Van Hollen and Cardin believe the Trump Administration’s threats of deportation and the requirement that TPS immigrants must re-apply for the status US every 6 to 18 months, both created a destabilizing environment for TPS recipients. The Hill reported that Van Hollen and Cardin’s bill would provide a path to residency for TPS recipients who had come from El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. Van Hollen issued a statement and said, “For decades, our country has welcomed and protected those fleeing violence and turmoil around the world. 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 recipient’s security and certainty”.

However, the SECURE Act was introduced and died in Congress last year, its re-introduction this year comes as newly elected President Joe Biden and a Democrat-led Congress considered sweeping change on immigration. Biden earlier issued executive order to cancel Trump’s travel restrictions from Muslim-majority countries, his wall construction on the southern US border, and a re-strengthening of Obama’s DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program. It is noteworthy that Biden has also declared his intention to present legislation that would provide an 8-year path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States. More than 160 immigration and criminal justice groups across the US signed a letter at the beginning of February and said that Biden’s immigration policy must do more than just erase Trump’s zero-tolerance immigration policies.