Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) introduced the Continue American Safety Act (CASA), H.R. 6325, on July 10, 2018. The bill would extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) of nationals from: Haiti, El Salvador, Syria, Nepal, Honduras, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, Nicaragua, and South Sudan, and provides a new grant of TPS to certain Guatemalan nationals impacted by a recent volcanic eruption, determining that all the criteria for TPS has been met in all of these countries. TPS is granted by the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to certain foreign-born individuals who cannot safely return to their home countries because of ongoing armed conflict, environmental disasters, or other extraordinary circumstances. Currently, over 300,000 foreign nationals living in the United States possess TPS status. For more information about specific countries designated for TPS, see our fact sheet here.
What would CASA do?
CASA would extend designation of TPS for Haiti, El Salvador, Syria, Nepal, Honduras, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, Nicaragua, and South Sudan – countries whose nationals have for years received TPS for a variety of reasons, including ongoing war, aftermaths of natural disasters, epidemics and others – through at least January 21, 2021. The bill determines that all these countries are eligible for the extension, finding they all continue to meet criteria for TPS established in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
Following the devastating eruption of the Volcan de Fuego volcano on June 3, 2018 the bill would also provide for a new grant of TPS to nationals of Guatemala who have been continuously physically present in the U.S. since June 2, 2018 and meet other requirements established by the DHS Secretary. CASA would designate Guatemala for TPS for an initial 18 months. The Secretary would then determine potential extensions of the status after 18 months.
Would CASA allow TPS holders to travel abroad?
The bill requires TPS holders to obtain prior consent to travel abroad issued by DHS. Individuals seeking permission to travel would have to assert their need to make a short trip out of the country due to emergency or extenuating circumstances that are beyond his or her control.
How many TPS holders would be eligible to apply for LPR status under CASA?
As of August 2017, TPS re-registrations numbered approximately 325,000. This, plus additional new TPS enrollees from Guatemala, represents the highest possible number of individuals who could be eligible under CASA.
TPS Holders Are Valuable Contributors to the United States:
- TPS holders participate in our economy. TPS holders from El Salvador, Honduras, and Haiti contributea combined $4.5 billion in pre-tax wages or salary income annually to U.S. gross domestic product and $6.9 billion to Social Security and Medicare over a decade.
- TPS holders have high rates of labor force participation. 88.5 percent of TPS holders from El Salvador and Honduras are working. Male TPS holders work in the following sectors or occupations: construction and painting (23 percent), driving/deliveries (13.7 percent), cleaning buildings or houses (7.3 percent), gardening (5.4 percent), cooking (3.9 percent), or store clerk (2.5 percent). Female TPS holders work in the following sectors or occupations: cleaning buildings or houses (27.9 percent), childcare (6.6 percent), cooking (5.2 percent), clothing manufacturing (4 percent) or store clerk (3.8 percent).
- TPS holders have made lives for themselves throughout the U.S.Thirty percent of households with a Haitian, Honduran, or Salvadoran TPS holder have a mortgage. The six states with the largest populations of TPS holders from these three countries are California (55,000), Texas (45,000), Florida (45,000), New York (26,000), Virginia (24,000), and Maryland (23,000).
- TPS holders come from a diverse set of places.In addition to the nearly 300,000 TPS holders from El Salvador, Haiti, and Honduras, current TPS holders also come from Nepal (8,950), Nicaragua (2,550), Somalia (250), South Sudan (70), Sudan (1,040), Syria (5,800), and Yemen (1,000).
The National Immigration Forum would like to thank Anna Ferri, policy intern, for her extensive contributions to this bill summary.