President George W. Bush
delivered good news to the immigrant community by extending Temporary
Protective Status (TPS) for an additional 18 months to Hondurans and
Nicaraguans.
As part of the Bush Administration’s ongoing efforts to assist countries
devastated by Hurricane Mitch, the extension will remain in effect until
January 5, 2005. It is estimated that 87,000 Hondurans and 6,000 Nicaraguans
will benefit from this measure.
This action demonstrates President Bush’s unwavering commitment to lend a
helping hand to those who contribute to the fabric of this great nation
through hard work and self-reliance.
President Bush also
continues advocating for the confirmation of Miguel Estrada - a Honduran
immigrant who exemplifies the boundless potential that the United States
offers.
Two years after President Bush sent Miguel Estrada’s nomination to the Senate,
the Democrat minority continues its unprecedented move to block a vote on the
floor. Despite Estrada’s excellent qualifications, bipartisan support and
willingness to answer additional questions regarding his record, Democrats
continue their stonewalling of this highly qualified nominee.
To mark the 2-year anniversary of the Democrat’s obstruction of Miguel
Estrada, activists held rallies and press conferences in several cities across
the nation demanding an up-or down vote on the Senate floor.
It is shameful that Democrats want to subject Miguel Estrada to a higher
standard than any other previous nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals. Please
make sure your friends and neighbors hear Miguel’s story.
Sincerely,
Rudy Fernández
Director of Grassroots Development
Republican National Committee
An estimated 1,000 to 1,500 Honduran and Nicaraguan immigrants living
in Hudson County are breathing a sigh of relief.
Yesterday, the federal government allowed them to legally work and live
in the United States for another 18 months.
Provisional immigration status, granted to them in 1999 after Hurricane
Mitch destroyed part of Central America, had been scheduled to expire for
Hondurans and Nicaraguans on July 5, putting some 5,000 people living in
New Jersey at risk of losing their Temporary Protection Status.
Without this legal status, granted to immigrants from countries
devastated by armed conflict or natural disasters, many Hondurans and
Nicaraguans in Hudson County would have lost their work authorization and
their protections against deportation, according to Monica Cano Carroll, a
staff attorney at the American Friends Service Committee.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, it has become increasingly difficult for
immigrants to obtain work without proper authorization, Cano Carroll said.
Hondurans and Nicaraguans were granted TPS after the devastation of
Hurricane Mitch, one of the strongest hurricanes of the 20th Century. In
Honduras alone, an estimated 7,000 people were killed and 600,000 people
were left homeless, according to the AFSC.
"We applaud the government's acknowledgment of the importance of TPS
for those affected by Hurricane Mitch," Cano Carroll said.
"This extension recognizes the efforts of those Hondurans and
Nicaraguans working hard in the United States who send remittances to
their countries of origin."
The Inter-American Development Bank calculates that remittances to
Central America totaled $5.5 billion in 2002. In Nicaragua, remittances
accounted for 29.4 percent of the country's gross domestic product, 11.5
percent in Honduras and 15.1 percent in El Salvador.
Cano Carroll said that deporting Hondurans and Nicaraguans to a region
that has yet to recover from Hurricane Mitch would in effect destabilize
the region's economy. What's more, she said, forced deportation would have
destabilized families that have been established in the United States by
Nicaraguans and Hondurans.
Along with a group of nonprofit organizations, AFSC had scheduled a
press conference today in Newark to urge the federal government to extend
the protective status.
"It is the immigrant community that is investing in the rebuilding of
this affected area," Cano Carroll said. The recently announced extension
"is recognition of this great accomplishment."
Republican
National Hispanic Assembly
