Alex Padilla U.S. Senator for California

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety, Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), and Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) called on President Biden to take urgent actions to protect long-term immigrant communities before the end of his term.

Specifically, the Senators called on the Biden-Harris Administration to designate Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Ecuador for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), as well as expedite processing times for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients seeking to renew their status. These proposed actions would be important steps to help protect immigrants from being forced back to dangerous conditions.

The Senators also called on President Biden to further protect DACA recipients by extending their status for the maximum time possible, expediting the processing of Advance Parole requests, and making it easier for employers to sponsor DACA recipients for H-1B visas.

“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,” wrote the Senators. 

“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,” continued the Senators. “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.”

Senator Padilla is a leading voice in Congress for immigration reform. To commemorate the 12th anniversary of DACA, Padilla joined immigration advocates, DACA recipients, and other lawmakers to urge Congress to pass a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients and Dreamers. He previously joined his Senate colleagues and directly impacted immigrant youth leaders for a press conference calling on Republicans in Congress to work with Democrats to pass permanent protections for DACA recipients after the 5th Circuit’s 2022 ruling. 

Padilla continues to fight relentlessly to expand pathways to citizenship for millions of long-term U.S. residents. His bill, the Renewing Immigration Provisions of the Immigration Act of 1929, would update the existing Registry statute so that an immigrant may be eligible to apply for lawful permanent resident status if they meet certain conditions, providing a much-needed pathway to a green card for more than 8 million people, including Dreamers, TPS holders, children of long-term visa holders, essential workers, and highly skilled members of our workforce. Earlier this year, Padilla celebrated President Biden’s executive action to ease certain DACA recipients’ ability to be employed in the United States following his advocacy. He previously introduced the Citizenship for Essential Workers Act, which would create a pathway to citizenship for undocumented essential workers, including Dreamers, as his first bill in Congress.

Full text of the letter is available here and below:

Dear President Biden,

Thank you for your leadership and service to this nation over the past four years. 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. In addition to supporting strong border security, we are eager to ensure that DACA recipients, TPS holders, and other immigrants who are critical members of our communities and economies are not forgotten during this busy time.

With this in mind, we respectfully urge you to prioritize the following actions:

Designate, Redesignate, and Extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Eligible Countries. 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. Ecuadorians currently face horrific levels of violence that has only surged in recent years. Nicaragua remains under the oppressive rule of President Daniel Ortega’s authoritarian regime, where widespread human rights violations by the government pose severe risks of state-sponsored violence and persecution to its citizens. And both political and environmental conditions in El Salvador continue to justify TPS, with over 180,000 Salvadoran nationals having lived in the U.S. for more than 23 years. 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.

Protect Deferred Action Recipients via Expedited Processing and Expansion of Legal Pathways. With the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the future of DACA and others with deferred action, we urge USCIS to process all deferred action renewals and Advance Parole requests as expeditiously as possible. USCIS should also all DACA recipients’ status to extend for the maximum time possible. We also urge you to finalize the proposed regulation clarifying the rules around cap-exempt status under the H-1B program. Clearer cap exemption rules may encourage more employers to petition for H-1B visas on behalf of DACA holders, which will ensure qualified DACA recipients have opportunities to gain legal status through their employers.

We appreciate your prompt consideration of these crucial actions. Thank you for your continued service and partnership as we work together to better the lives of all Americans.

Sincerely,

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