ATLANTA — As hundreds of Central Americans celebrated their independence days, Latinos in Georgia rallied outside the State Capitol on Thursday.
A modest crowd used awareness of Hispanic Heritage Month to urge the Biden Administration to extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Central Americans living in the United States.
Not far from the Gold Dome, people raised the Honduran, Nicaraguan and El Salvadorian flags at Liberty Plaza. Sept. 15 marks the countries' independence anniversaries.
The group called on national leaders to re-designate TPS for immigrants for those nations, citing continued dangerous social and economic instability in those nations. The immigration status was established by Congress in 1990 meant to serve as a temporary designation for immigrants living in the U.S. whose home countries are considered temporarily dangerous. According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 15 countries have TPS designation.
While carrying signs that read "TPS for Central America" and "Protege el pueblo, TPS ahora," which translates to protect the town, TPS now, demonstrators explained their presence was to ask that families be granted protection from deportation to countries "destabilized by climate emergencies, human rights violations, and political unrest."
TPS for Central Americans Atlanta rally | PHOTOS
Members from CASA, an organization started by activists who opposed U.S. interference in Latin America, outlined that Guatemalan immigrants should be granted TPS as well.
“In my country, with the socio-political crisis, all Nicaraguans know that we have left our homes, but we do not know if we will return, and our government can unjustly accuse us of anything, and we can end up as political prisoners or disappearing for no reason,” said CASA member Katerin Orosco in a news release.
The group posed that TPS is a solution for members of the community and a benefit for the nation as a whole.
“This country would not have the same economic power without immigrants," Julian Ramirez, a CASA member said in a news release. "Still, with TPS, with that protection from deportation, with the opportunity to have a work permit and a license, one can do more extraordinary things. I fight for a TPS to continue contributing to the country and cooperating in my community. And to continue working as I came to do.”
The rally served to raise awareness of a letter sent to President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and the Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas to follow up on previous petitions urging for TPS. More than 100 advocacy organizations signed the letter including CASA, Families Belong Together and Atlanta's GALEO Impact Fund.
Thursday advocates also launched an effort to collect signatures from local and state elected officials that support extending TPS.
These efforts were held in concert with rallies in other parts of the US during a week of action as a nationwide push for awareness.
To learn more about events and campaign efforts, visit TPSforCentralAmerica.org.