DREAMers and TPSeanos Are as American as Baseball and Apple Pie

As fans across the country watch the World Series between the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers, it’s hard to miss that America’s pastime is one of the most diverse sports leagues in the nation.

And it is fitting that the two teams vying for the championship represent cities whose vibrancy is equally powered by the strength of that diversity and the contributions of immigrants.

Among the teams’ fans and in the cities they call home, there are thousands of immigrants who have Temporary Protected Status (TPS), as well as young immigrants who have grown up here and are eligible for the recently rescinded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

  • In Los Angeles, there are more than 34,000 TPS holders from El Salvador and Honduras, and 123,000 young people eligible for DACA.
  • In Houston, there are more than 23,000 Temporary Protected Status holders from Honduras and El Salvador and 44,000 young people immediately eligible for DACA.

Like baseball, these individuals are as American as apple pie. But recent and potential decisions by the Trump administration and Congress could put their futures at risk.

SAVE TPS

Before the end of the year the Trump administration will make decisions on the future of TPS for Central American countries and Haiti. This means that TPSeanos are now at risk of losing their protected status.

TPSeanos in Houston and Los Angeles are part of the 250,000 Central American immigrants whose lives now hang in the balance. And these immigrants contribute greatly to the construction, childcare, and healthcare workforces in the two cities.

Distribution of Salvadoran and Honduran TPS-holders
by largest metropolitan areas

Source: ILRC.org

THE TIME IS NOW FOR A CLEAN DREAM ACT

DREAMers in Houston and Los Angeles are part of an estimated 1.9 million young people nationwide who are in the workforce and who would be immediately eligible for the Dream Act. This type of legislation would allow them to continue their contributions to the cities they call home, and is widely supported by Americans of all political stripes.

Both DREAMers and TPSeanos have done what America wants of them—they have come forward, gone through background checks, and are contributing to their communities and the nation. They fuel and support the economies and civic society in world class cities like Houston and LA, as well as in rural America.

The administration and Congress have an opportunity to hit this one out of the park—and give Americans a win—by renewing TPS and passing the DREAM Act.

FIND OUT MORE

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