Luján Joins Senate Congressional Hispanic Caucus Colleagues in Urging Biden Administration to Act Now to Protect Immigrant Communities

Luján sent a letter to President Joe Biden calling on him to act decisively during the remainder of his term to protect DACA recipients and TPS holders

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) joined U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) in sending a letter urging President Joe Biden to complete important work to protect long-term immigrant communities before the end of his term. Specifically, they called on the Biden-Harris administration to designate, redesignate, and extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Ecuador, Nicaragua, and El Salvador, as well as make it faster for DACA recipients to renew their status. These actions can be done immediately, would ensure that immigrants aren’t sent back to dangerous conditions, and would keep hundreds of thousands of hardworking immigrant families together, allowing them to continue contributing to their local communities.

“We write today to urge you to act decisively during the remainder of your term of office to complete important work that will protect long-term immigrant communities and ensure that families are not returned to countries where they would face immense danger,” the Senators wrote.

The Senators urged President Biden to designate, redesignate, and extend TPS for eligible countries, saying, “worsening crises in countries around the world, including in Ecuador, Nicaragua, and El Salvador, continue to endanger hundreds of thousands of people. Nationals from these three countries cannot return home due to severe circumstances on the ground…. We urge the administration to ensure that those from countries with meritorious cases are granted TPS, allowing these individuals to continue building their lives here and contributing to our country.”

The Senators also called on President Biden to protect DACA recipients by expediting processing and expanding legal pathways. “We urge USCIS to process all deferred action renewals and Advance Parole requests as expeditiously as possible. USCIS should also allow all DACA recipients’ status to extend for the maximum time possible,” they said. They also called on the administration to make it easier for employers to sponsor DACA recipients for H-1B visas.

You can read the full letter text HERE.

Senator Luján has long worked to support immigrant communities in New Mexico and across the country, leading legislation to broaden legal pathways to citizenship, pushing for increased investment in outreach and enrollment assistance to help Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients apply for Affordable Care Act (ACA) coverage, and calling to make cancellation of removal more accessible for long-term noncitizen residents of the United States. Senator Luján has also consistently fought to protect Dreamers, TPS holders, and hardworking immigrant families currently living in the United States. 

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