Washington, D.C. (February 6, 2018) – Terry O’Sullivan, General President of LIUNA – the Laborers’ International Union of North America – made the following statement on LIUNA’s advocacy for Temporary Protected Status.

Today, LIUNA members joined fellow union members and allies with the National TPS Alliance in an all-day effort - including a press conference and visits with lawmakers - to urge Congress to act now to fix the Temporary Protected Status program (TPS).

 

In the past few months, the Department of Homeland Security has terminated TPS for immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Sudan. Collectively, this will force out over 350,000 people, who have built careers, started families, paid taxes including Social Security, and in many cases raised U.S. citizen children.

 

The Temporary Protected Status Program is a humanitarian program that provides an opportunity for immigrants who have fled natural disaster and conflicts in their home country. Immigrants in this program, many who have now been in the United States for decades, are crucial to the construction industry. An estimated 30 percent of TPS holders work in the construction industry – literally building America.

 

LIUNA calls on Congress to act immediately to pass legislation to fix TPS and avoid a humanitarian and economic disaster. LIUNA has endorsed H.R. 4253 and S. 2144, which will keep families together and avoid devastating disruption to communities across the nation.

###

The half-million members of LIUNA – the Laborers’ International Union of North America – are on the forefront of the construction industry, a powerhouse of workers who are proud to build America.