9 JUN 2023
ICYMI: Thomas Kennedy of the Florida Immigrant Coalition Raises the Urgency for Biden to Redesignate TPS for Central American Countries Amidst Extreme GOP Anti-Immigrant Attacks
MIAMI — Thomas Kennedy of the Florida Immigrant Coalition joined MSNBC’s The Reid Out this week to outline the cruel, anti-immigrant policies in DeSantis-backed Senate Bill 1718 and the devastating economic impact DeSantis’ nativist policies – a political move to win the GOP presidential nomination – are causing in the state. To push back on these extreme GOP attacks and to provide relief to immigrant communities, Kennedy called on President Biden to redesignate Temporary Protected Status for Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador nationals – many of whom already call Florida home. Expanding TPS would not only allow hundreds of thousands of immigrant workers to legally work and remain in the country, but it would also keep families together as TPS holders and potential recipients live with 800,000 U.S. citizens – 400,000 of whom are U.S citizen children.
In case you missed it:
WATCH HERE
Key Takeaways:
“The bill has real-life implications for people. And they're actually putting people in danger by pretending otherwise. … it's cruel, it's inhumane and not in the spirit of Florida. We're supposed to be a welcoming community. ”
“[Elected officials] were warned on the floor, both in the Senate and the House, about how this would impact construction, how it would impact the agriculture sector, the hospitality sector — which is so important in Florida — and they disregarded it, because it serves the political ambitions of the governor who is running for President, and he has to posture as the most anti-immigrant candidate.”
“What I can tell you is what immigrants in the state need: They need relief. Something that could be done at the federal level is for the Biden administration to grant Temporary Protected Status to different diasporas that are in the state and vulnerable to the anti-immigrant policies — folks like Nicaraguans, Guatemalans, Salvadorians. We need relief because we're under extreme attack by an out-of-control state government.”
“I'm a Florida taxpayer myself, and I don't want my tax dollars going into this. I want it going towards addressing the property insurance and market crisis here, skyrocketing housing costs, the chronic flooding we see, and public transportation. But instead, again, it all comes back to the fact that the governor is running for president, and again, needs to posture as the most anti-immigrant candidate there is.”
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