WASHINGTON, DC – FWD.us President Todd Schulte issued the following statement on the Biden administration’s decision to protect Afghan nationals in the U.S. with a Temporary Protected Status (TPS) redesignation:

“We are pleased to see President Biden continue to show his leadership by redesignating TPS for Afghanistan, a humane and appropriate decision that will prevent the deportation of Afghan families to terrible insecurity and violence, economic collapse, and other perilous conditions. We are thankful to those leading the charge in this effort, including from the diaspora community, those who fled Afghanistan recently, and the many other Americans stirred to action by the belief that we can fulfill the best of our nation’s promise by welcoming refugees.

“Afghan families deserve this protection from deportation and the ability to work legally, so today is welcome news — however Congress must build on this momentum to help fulfill our commitments to our Afghan allies by passing the bipartisan Afghan Adjustment Act. This isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s also very popular with American voters. According to new joint polling published earlier today by FWD.us and SEIU, 66% of voters polled in battleground states support using the TPS program as an effective legal pathway to provide eligible individuals in the U.S. with swift access to work authorization and deportation protections for 18 months.

“We hope the Biden administration will respond to the success of these recent designations and their widespread support and work to safeguard other vulnerable people in need of protection from countries facing devastating humanitarian crises like the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Mauritania, and other nations that clearly meet the program’s statutory requirements. This is not only the moral thing to do, but it will also help support and strengthen American communities and bolster the U.S. economy.”

Background

Established by the U.S. Congress through the Immigration Act of 1990, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is an incredibly effective legal pathway used by both Democratic and Republican administrations that provides currently undocumented immigrants in the U.S. immediate access to work authorization and deportation protections for 18 months. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has the authority to designate a country for TPS where the country is facing an ongoing armed conflict, an environmental disaster, or an extraordinary and temporary condition.

Currently, in-country conditions in Cameroon, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Nepal, Guatemala, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Mali, and Mauritania all meet the statutory requirements for a TPS designation.