“Protect Our Nicaraguan Neighbors:” 120 Faith Organizations Call on the Biden Administration to Redesignate TPS for Nicaragua

25 APR 2023

On April 20, 120 faith groups sent a letter to the Biden administration calling for the extension and redesignation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Nicaragua nationals already living and working in the U.S. TPS is provided to those for whom it is unsafe to be returned to their home countries due to armed conflict, persecution, natural disaster, or other reasons.

Washington, D.C. – On April 20, 120 faith groups sent a letter to the Biden administration calling for the extension and redesignation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Nicaragua nationals already living and working in the U.S. TPS is provided to those for whom it is unsafe to be returned to their home countries due to armed conflict, persecution, natural disaster, or other reasons.

The 120 faith groups – spanning international, national, and local religious organizations – join growing calls to redesignate TPS for Nicaragua in light of the worsening political, human rights, and environmental conditions in the country. In recent years, many faith groups and civil society organizations, who have provided critical assistance to those in need in the country, have exited the country due to deteriorating conditions.

The faith groups wrote in part:

“The 120 undersigned national and local faith-based organizations write to respectfully request that your administration redesignate Nicaragua for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in light of Nicaragua’s deteriorating social and environmental conditions which prevent Nicaraguan nationals from safely returning to their homeland. Across our respective faith traditions, we seek to affirm the dignity and humanity of those uprooted from their homes. We call for the administration to use the tools provided by Congress to protect human life, which also ensure that our neighbors with temporary protection have a means to support themselves and their families.

“As faith-based organizations, we have watched with deep concern, along with so many others around the world, the unfolding events in Nicaragua and the suffering of the Nicaraguan people. We believe wholeheartedly in protecting the sanctity of all human life. This includes addressing situations in which people are needlessly put into harm’s way. In addition to providing life-saving humanitarian assistance to populations in need, the US has many compelling moral reasons to provide foreign nationals from unstable countries currently present in the US with Temporary Protected Status. We know such a response is supported by the values, laws, and ideals that this country holds dear. As people of faith, we are called in a special way, to raise this concern to your attention.”

Background: TPS was first granted to Nicaraguans in the U.S. in 1999, and many Nicaraguans have been living in the U.S. under this temporary status, building roots, and contributing to their communities and the economy for decades. Nicaragua was among the countries targeted by the Trump administration in its attempts to end TPS protections. See the full text of the letter sent by faith groups to the administration calling for the resignation of TPS for Nicaragua here.

A recently released battleground poll conducted by Global Strategy Group showed that the majority of American voters (64%) support the Biden administration using its TPS authority to help protect immigrant families and workers from deportation to unsafe countries.

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