Washington, DC – Today as the Trump administration terminated Temporary Protected Status for Honduran immigrants, UNITE HERE called for immediate congressional action to create a pathway to citizenship for these TPS holders who have lived and worked legally in America for decades.

“Gang violence, murder, and extortion of innocent civilians is out of control in Honduras, to the point that over a hundred Honduran and other Central American refugees fled the country in a caravan and remain on the US border, risking everything for asylum,” said Maria Elena Durazo, general vice president of UNITE HERE. “The crisis of the largely Honduran caravan asylum seekers at our border underlines the desperate country conditions that make it a death sentence to end Honduran TPS. Congress must act to extend TPS or lives will be lost.”

“The hypocrisy of Donald Trump and his administration in trying to force the deportation of 57,000 hard working, tax paying, and thoroughly vetted Honduran TPS workers in the U.S. to a violence-wracked nation is astounding,” said D. Taylor, international president of UNITE HERE. “The Trump administration is trying to uproot tens of thousands of upstanding immigrant workers who have passed rigorous background checks, bore U.S. citizen children, and lived peacefully in the U.S. for decades. We applaud the 56 members of Congress who have called on the Department of Homeland Security to renew TPS for Honduras given that the country is still recovering from natural disasters, and does not have adequate resources to take in tens of thousands of TPS holders currently living in the United States.”

UNITE HERE represents thousands of TPS holders across America, including many Honduran, Haitian, and El Salvadoran immigrants. TPS holders have largely lived in America for decades, and are central fixtures in their communities as homeowners, dedicated employees, and parents to American-born children. The hospitality industry has a disproportionately large number of long-time TPS workers from various nations, and would face devastating economic consequences if this year’s TPS terminations are not reversed. The union has played a central role in the fight against TPS terminations.

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UNITE HERE represents over 270,000 members working in the hotel, gaming, food service, and airport industries across the US and Canada. Learn more at www.unitehereimmigration.org