Suozzi: Extend protected status for Salvadorans

Rep. Tom Suozzi is urging the Trump administration to renew temporary protected status for the more than 170,000 Salvadorans with that designation across the country, about 17,000 of whom live in New York State.

But the Glen Cove Democrat has received no assurances in an exchange of letters with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin that the status will not be allowed to expire on Sept. 9.

"Failure to extend would rip apart families whose members have lived continuously in the United States for almost three decades, all while contributing to the economy, bolstering the labor force in key industries, and supporting families that often include U.S. citizen children or other relatives," Suozzi wrote to Mullin on June 22.

Mullin, in a July 2 response to Suozzi, said his decision will be based on statutory requirements. He did suggest to Suozzi there are alternative pathways some TPS beneficiaries can pursue to stay in the United States.

But in a response the next day, Suozzi wrote most of those alternatives are not open to Salvadoran TPS holders, because of unique circumstances — and if those were open, they would have taken them already.

Salvadorans with temporary protected status have been living in the United States and working legally in the country since at least 2001, when two major earthquakes hit the Central American country and resulted in special status.

While Long Island is home to large communities of Salvadorans, specific federal numbers on how many have TPS are not available.

A Supreme Court ruling on June 25 allows the administration to move forward with canceling TPS for two countries, Haiti and Syria. The ruling also held that it’s up to the Department of Homeland Security secretary to decide whether to extend a country’s status.

Suozzi proposed to Mullin a "parole in place" policy and an extended two-year transition period in the event that the administration does not extend El Salvador’s TPS designation. In the interim, he proposes the administration work with Congress "to establish a more permanent, humane solution."

"TPS holders are embedded in the fabric of our communities on Long Island, in Queens, and across the country," Suozzi said in a statement Thursday. "Letting the TPS designation run out and risking ripping them away from their families is inhumane and un-American."