Today the AHA joined 233 organizations in calling on President Donald Trump and President-elect Joseph Biden to grant immediate protection, in the form of Temporary Protected Status (TPS), to nationals from the countries of Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala; countries in Central America hit hard by recent natural disasters that have exacerbated the realities of extreme poverty, violence, and the adverse effects of COVID-19.

Read the letter below or download a PDF version.

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December 8, 2020

The Honorable Joseph Biden
President-Elect of the United States of America
Washington, DC

Dear President-Elect Biden:

We, the undersigned 234 organizations, urge your incoming Administration to immediately grant a new Temporary Protected Status designation for Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador and include Guatemala as a consequence of the severe devastation caused by hurricanes Eta and Iota in Central America immediately after taking office in January 2021.

Under section 244 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the U.S. government can immediately provide protection for thousands of Central American immigrants who are unable to return to their home countries due to devastation caused by recent consecutive hurricanes and tropical storms which aggravated dire conditions in Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala. Nationals of those countries living in the U.S. are a key source of financial support to families in Central America and will also send goods to their loved ones in the region. They also provide support to multiple Central American community and advocacy organizations actively working with allies and communities on the ground that have been unable to rely on national governments which have been slow to respond. Temporary Protected Status is a life-saving tool. In 1998, the same Central American region was devastated by Hurricane Mitch which left at least 11,000 people dead and thousands missing. A new designation can help stabilize the region while the Central American governments work to provide emergency aid to those impacted by these storms, and already suffering the economic effects of the current global health pandemic, which has also negatively impacted public health and the regional economy.

On November 4, 2020 Hurricane Eta made landfall in the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua as a category 4 hurricane and weakened to a tropical depression before entering Honduras. Two weeks later, and only 15 miles apart, Hurricane Iota made landfall again in the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua as a category 4 storm. Both hurricanes impacted Central America with strong winds and heavy rains damaging critical infrastructure such as airports in Honduras, hospitals, schools, bridges, roads, and water systems. Remote communities, already suffering from the health and socio-economic fallout of COVID-19 are particularly vulnerable to the double burden of a pandemic and the devastation wrought by Eta and Iota. Initial reports of the impacts of both Hurricanes Eta and Iota on these countries estimate even greater devastation than what Hurricane Mitch caused.

The aftermath of these storms are emerging as a major humanitarian crisis in Central America. More than 4.9 million people from Panama to Belize are affected. The most severe impacts are being felt in Honduras, Nicaragua, and Guatemala, but also several areas in El Salvador. In all the affected areas, the communities most impacted are Black and Indigenous: Garifuna, Miskito, many indigenous groups who already suffer from historical patterns of exclusion and discrimination, resulting in disproportionate levels of poverty and geographic isolation. Besides the loss of life, thousands of families lost their homes and livelihoods in the midst of a deadly pandemic. It would be unconscionable to return Central Americans seeking relief from the hurricanes back to an emergency and  humanitarian crisis in their countries from which it will take years to recover.

We stand in solidarity with communities in Central America and ask that your Administration join us in standing with them by using its power to grant immediate protection in the form of Temporary Protected Status to nationals of those countries living in the U.S. left vulnerable by the devastation and existing structural barriers to a timely, relevant, and sustainable recovery in Central America.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this urgent matter. Should you need additional information or have further questions please do not hesitate to contact Mony Ruiz-Velasco at Alianza Americas via email at mruizvelasco@alianzaamericas.org or phone at (773) 428-0164 or Laura Esquivel at Hispanic Federation at lesquivel@hispanicfederation.org or 202.210.2096.

Sincerely,

Adhikaar
AFL-CIO
African Career, Education & Resources, Inc.
Alianza Americas
Alianza Nacional de Campesinas
America’s Voice
American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
American Friends Service Committee
American Humanist Association
American Immigration Lawyers Association
Americans for Immigrant Justice, Inc.
Arab Resource and Organizing Center
Arkansas United
ARTE Inc.
Asylee Women Enterprise
Asylum Access
Asylum-seekers Sponsorship Project
Bay Area Asylum Support Coalition (BAASC)
Bender’s Immigration Bulletin (LexisNexis)
Boston University International Human Rights Clinic
Cabrini Immigrant Services of NYC
California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice (CCIJ)
Caminando Juntos – Presentation Sisters
CASA
Casa Mary Johanna
Casareina
Catholic Charities of SW Kansas
Catholic Charities Tompkins Tioga
Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc.
Catholic Migration Services
Center for Latino Progress – CPRF
Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)
Center for Popular Democracy
Central American Black Organization
Central American Resource Center – CARECEN DC
Central American Resource Center – CARECEN Los Angeles
Central American Resource Center –CARECEN San Francisco
Centro Comunitario CEUS
Centro Presente
Centro Romero
Chicago Community and Workers’ Rights
Chispa, LCV
Church World Service
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA)
Coalition of Latino Leaders-CLILA
Columbia Law School Immigrants’ Rights Clinic
Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County Inc.
Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto
Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, U.S. Provinces
COPAL Minnesota
Corazon Latino
CRECEN
Culinary Union
Desert Support for Asylum Seekers
DIF Municipal
Dolores Street Community Services
Dreamer Fund
Durango Unido en Chicago
East Bay Sanctuary Covenant
El/La Para TransLatinas
Equality California
Equality North Carolina
Erie Neighborhood House
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Family Action Network Movement
Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project
Florida Immigrant Coalition
Franciscan Action Network
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Galeria de la Raza
Grassroots Leadership
Grupo Folklórico Nicaragüense Malinche
Haitian Bridge Alliance
HANA Center
Hartford Knights Corp.
HIAS
Hispanic Federation
Hispanic Health Network
Hispanics in Philanthropy
Hispanos Unidos De Buffalo Inc.
Hondureños Contra el SIDA
Horizons Unlimited of San Francisco, Inc.
Houston Migrant Outreach Coalition
Human Rights First
Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
Illinois Dream Fund
Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota
Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project
Immigrant Legal Defense
Immigration Hub
Immigration Institute of the Bay Area
Immigration Services and Legal Advocacy (ISLA)
Immigration Team of Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation
Indivisible Chicago Alliance
Inmimex
Institute for Pikicy Studies – Global Economy Project
Instituto Familiar de La Raza
Intercultural Counseling Connection
International American Relief Society IARS
International Institute of New England
International Refugee Assistance Project
IRIS Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Svcs
Jacqueline Batres Bonilla
Jesuit Social Research Institute
Jewish Activists for Immigration Justice of Western MA
Jon Wu Attorney
Juntos
Just Futures Law
Justice & Diversity Center of the Bar Association of San Francisco
Justice in Motion
Justice Shall Be for All
Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission of the Sisters of St Francis of
Perpetual Adoration, St. Joseph Province
Kentucky Equal Justice Center
Kids in Need of Defense
La Asunción
La Casa de Don Pedro
La Colaborativa
La Comunidad, Inc
La Raza Centro Legal
La Raza Centro Legal San Francisco
La Union Del Pueblo Entero (LUPE)
Labor Council for Latin American Advancement
Las Vanders
Latin Advocacy Network (LATINAN)
Latin American Working Group
Latino Commission on AIDS
Latino Policy Forum
Law Office of Helen Lawrence
Law Office of Peggy J. Bristol
Lawyers for Civil Rights
Leadership Conference of Women Religious
League of Conservation Voters
League of United Latin American Citizens
Legal Aid at Work
Legal Services for Children
Lila LGBTQ Inc.
Loisaida, Inc.
Lost In Translation
Lost In Translation
Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in Pennsylvania
Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service
Mano a Mano Family Resource Center
Marigold Project
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
Michigan Coalition for Human Rights
Migrant Center for Human Rights
Mission Housing
Mission Neighborhood Centers
Mission Neighborhood Health Center
Morris County Organization for Hispanic Affairs
MoveOn
NAKASEC Virginia
National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
National Association of Social Workers
National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC)
National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC)
National Lawyers Guild – S.F. Bay Area, Immigration Committee
National Lawyers Guild of Los Angeles
National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
Nebraska Appleseed
Neighbors Link Community Law Practice
Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala
Network Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
New Sanctuary Coalition NYC
Nicaragua Center for Community Acton
NorCal TPS Coalition
NWI Resist
ONECA
Open Immigration Legal Services
Operation Exodus Inner City
Oxfam America
Pangea Legal Services
Pax Christi Illinois
Pennsylvania Council of Churches
People Organizing to Demand Environmental & Economic Rights (PODER)
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
PODER
Poder Latinx
Presente.org
Programa Casa Refugiados AC
Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada
Public Counsel
Quixote Center
Rays of Freedom
Red Jesuita con Migrantes LAC
Remi
Rural Women’s Health Project
Salvadoran Association of Los Angeles
San Francisco Immigrant Legal & Education Network (SFILEN)
San Francisco Rapid Response Network
San Luis Valley Immigrant Resource Center
Secretaría de salud
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN)
SHARE Foundation
Sierra Club
Silver State Equality-Nevada
Sister Parish
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas – Justice Team
Sisters of Saint Joseph
Sisters of St. Dominic of Blauvelt, New York
Sisters, Adorers of the Blood of Christ, US
South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center
Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod Immigration Working Group
Spanish Speaking Elderly Council – RAICES
St. Ann’s Corner of Harm Reduction
St. Francis of Assisi Parish
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Athol, MA
Still Waters Anti-trafficking Program
Strangers No Longer (Michigan)
The Jus Semper Global Alliance
The National Immigration Law Center
The Women’s Building
Triangle Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
Union for Reform Judaism
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
Unite Here
United Stateless
United We Dream
University of Maryland Carey Immigration Clinic
University of San Francisco Immigration & Deportation Defense Clinic
UNLV Immigration Clinic
We Rise SF
Welcoming Immigrants Housing Project
Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club
Win Without War
Wind of the Spirit Immigrant Resource Center
Witness at the Border
WOLA (Washington Office on Latin America)
Women Working Together USA
Women’s Refugee Commission (WRC)
Workers Center of Central New York
Working Families United
Yo’on ixim