Democrats are scrambling to put measures in place that could derail President Donald Trump’s plans to secure the border and deport illegal aliens when he returns to the White House next month.
Several Democrat senators are calling on lame-duck President Joe Biden to use his last month in office to bolster protections for illegal aliens already living in America.
Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Alex Padilla (D-CA), and Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) pressuring Biden to bolster Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) within the few days he has left in office.
The three Senate Democrats held a press conference on Wednesday alongside immigration activists to highlight their demands.
They demanded that the outgoing administration extend these deportation protection programs before both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris leave office.
The Democrats are cautioning that both TPS and DACA could be axed when Trump resumes office.
Trump has long made it clear cracking down on illegal immigration across the country is his top priority.
During the presser, Andrea Flores, vice president of immigration policy for FWD.us, spoke alongside the Democrat lawmakers.
“President Biden still has a critical window to take concrete steps within his legal authority to protect hundreds of thousands of immigrants from family separation,” Flores said.
“To fail to act now, to deny safety to the very people we welcomed in and provided refuge to, would be a terrible mistake that will harm millions of immigrants, mixed status, and American households for years to come.”
The press conference followed a letter the Democrat senators sent to Biden last week.
They are specifically asking the outgoing president to renew or re-designate TPS for migrants from El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Ecuador.
The Democrats also want Biden to issue an executive order expediting renewals for DACA recipients.
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TPS designation provides temporary deportation protection to foreign nationals in the U.S. whose home countries are deemed currently unsafe for their return due to political instability, natural disasters, or other humanitarian concerns.
According to data compiled by the American Immigration Council, there are roughly 860,000 individuals with TPS in the U.S.
However, a longstanding critique of TPS is that it’s temporary in name only.
Many TPS designations have been continually renewed over the years.
However, after Trump is sworn back into power, many countries currently under TPS will see their designation expire as soon as 2025.
DACA, a program established by the Obama administration in 2012.
It provides deportation protection and employment privileges for those who entered the U.S. unlawfully at a young age and have remained for a number of years.
According to the National Immigration Forum, there are around 530,000 individuals who are currently enrolled in DACA.
Trump has pledged to conduct the largest deportation program in history, end birthright citizenship for those born to illegal migrant parents, continue construction on the U.S-Mexico border wall, beef up Border Patrol staffing, and enforce a slate of other measures.
In order to help him lead this effort, he has tapped Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to serve as Homeland Security secretary, former ICE acting director Tom Homan to serve as border czar, longtime aide Stephen Miller to serve as a top policy advisor, former Border Patrol chief Rodney Scott to serve as commissioner of Customs and Border Protection and Caleb Vitello to lead ICE.
The president-elect has indicated that his administration will scale back TPS.
However, he has shown interest in working with Democrats to keep DACA in place.
The controversial program has been repeatedly challenged in court since its inception.
“We have to do something about the Dreamers,” Trump said Sunday during an NBC interview, referring to the name of illegal migrants who entered the country at a young age.
“I will work with the Democrats on a plan.”
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