Washington D.C. – Yesterday, the Biden administration announced plans to designate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Ukrainians in the U.S. amidst ongoing Russian-led violence in Ukraine. The administration also announced it would immediately stop deportation flights to the country.
Juliana Macedo do Nascimento, Senior Advocacy Manager of United We Dream, said:
“Yesterday, the Biden administration made clear what our communities have always known: with the stroke of a pen, they have the ability to issue protections for immigrant communities and stop deportations. Yet time and again they choose who is deserving of safety and who is not. Let me be clear, everyone should be able to seek refuge and live safely without fear of further persecution after escaping violence.
The administration’s decision to grant TPS for Ukrainians and halt deportation flights to the country is the right decision and a welcomed response. It is also a decision that must equally, and with as much urgency as we witnessed recently, be extended to predominantly Black and brown countries also facing humanitarian crises. It was because of months of organizing from Black and brown leaders across the country, that the administration finally designated TPS for Sudan.
Still, organizers have been pushing the administration to newly designate and redesignate TPS for countries like Afghanistan, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Mauritania, Nicaragua, and others, only to be met with inaction. Added to this, the Biden administration continues to use Title 42 as a way to rapidly deport and expel tens of thousands of Haitian migrants despite unstable and dire conditions in Haiti. The Biden administration’s hypocrisy and anti-Blackness could not be more obvious. The Biden administration must take immediate action to designate TPS for all countries facing humanitarian disasters, stop all deportation flights, and deliver permanent protections to millions facing the threat of deportation right now.”
