U.S. Sen Richard Blumenthal said on Monday that he would work to put together a coalition of employers, immigration advocates, and others to reverse the Trump administration’s decision to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian and Syrian immigrants — a policy that has now stripped hun dreds of thousands of immigrants across the country of their ability to legally work and live in the United States. “We are going to be fighting for immigrants from Haiti, Syria, Ukraine, Afghanistan. They are all threatened,” Blumenthal said. TPS allows immigrants to live and work in the United States until their homelands are safe enough from environmental disaster or conflict for their return. There are around 350,000 Haitians across the country with TPS, many of whom arrived in the U.S. after an earthquake devastated their country in 2010. Around 6,100 Syrians were extended the same protection after a civil war broke out in Syria in 2011. Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services (IRIS) estimates that there are around 5,000 Haitians in Connecticut who will lose their TPS, according to the CT Mirror, after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a Trump administration move to end TPS for Haitian and Syrian immigrants. Now, immigrants who previously had TPS risk deportation. CBS News reported on Sunday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has plans to amp up operations to detain and deport Haitian immigrants. Blumenthal also signed on to a letter in February that was sent to then-Secretary of Homeland Security Kristy Noem from members of the U.S. Senate, calling on her to extend TPS for Haitian immigrants. Haiti remains gripped by political instability and violence, the letter reads, and access to food, healthcare, and public services is limited. “Ending TPS would also impose immediate economic harm on communities across the United States because Haitian TPS holders are essential to the American workforce and economy,” the letter continues. “Haitian nationals contribute billions of dollars in economic activity each year and are highly represented in critical sectors such as healthcare, construction, food processing, and logistics.” Blumenthal echoed that point at an unrelated press conference on Monday. “[Haitians TPS holders’] employers, many of them in healthcare, need them desperately to fill jobs that require their skills and experience,” he said. “America needs that workforce, and so I’m going to try to put together a coalition of employers, immigrant advocates, and others, so that we can persuade or force the administration to reverse this very dangerous, cruel set of measures.” The post Blumenthal Speaks Up For Temporary Protected Status appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less