***For Immediate Release***
May 4, 2018
Contact, Jeff Sheldon
Communications Director, Nebraska Appleseed
Office: (402) 438-8853
Mobile: (402) 840-7289
Email: jsheldon@neappleseed.org
Statement on ending Temporary Protected Status for Hondurans
Decision cruelly endangers lives of families and children who have long-standing ties to Nebraska communities
LINCOLN — Friday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced it would end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for people from Honduras, forcing people with long-standing ties to the U.S. to leave the country by January 2020.
TPS is granted to people from countries where ongoing conflict, environmental disaster, or other extraordinary circumstances make it impossible to return without jeopardizing their lives. Honduras remains a country still too unsafe to return to following a 1999 hurricane that devastated much of the country. It also has a high level of gang activity with one of the highest murder rates in the world and conditions that continue to deteriorate.
This announcement continues a disturbing pattern that risks the lives of thousands of families that have long-standing ties to the U.S. In the last six months, the Trump Administration also announced the premature end of TPS for people from El Salvador, Haiti, Sudan, Nepal, and Nicaragua.
Nebraska Appleseed Immigrants & Communities Director Darcy Tromanhauser issued this statement in response.
“Today’s announcement continues a reckless and inhumane pattern by the Trump Administration to uproot and endanger families who have a strong history of making valuable contributions to Nebraska’s communities,” Tromanhauser said. “Nebraskans from Honduras will see their lives put at risk if they are ripped from their communities and forced to return to one of the most violent and unstable environments in the world.
“Nebraska has a long and proud history of being a place where hard-working people can thrive in a safe home. Many of the people directly affected by today’s decision have been valuable parts of Nebraska communities for decades and have families that include U.S.-citizen children. Schools, churches, businesses, and communities as a whole all will suffer when these families are forced from their homes. This decision is another violation of Nebraskan and American values.”
More information on TPS holders in Nebraska can be found here.
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