Immigrants expect better opportunities from legislators for legal status
By Maricarmen Amado, New Jersey Hispano
At the end of September of this year, the Biden administration approved the extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which grants protection from deportation to thousands of migrants, including Salvadorans, Hondurans and Nicaraguans, among those from Latin American countries.
The recently approved measure has given peace of mind to the Tepesians. However, this pause will only last, as always, 18 months, because from then on it is not known if a new government will renew the immigration benefit of temporary protection for those from El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Haiti.
To this group are added those who have nothing. That is, those who have no legal status in the country and are part of the 11 million undocumented immigrants. They have economic problems, need education, housing, work and need to learn English, among other issues that legislators can help address.
“In Jersey City we work with many immigrants from various countries and one of the problems they have is housing, because there are many people who do not have a place to stay,” said Noemí Velázquez, vice president of the Jersey City Board.of Education, who is also running for a seat in the State Assembly for District 31 of New Jersey. “There are children from Ukraine and Hispanics who have crossed from Mexico to New Jersey, children who come from Jamaica and Haiti, and especially for the children, everything must be provided, from education in the bilingual program and all the necessary tools so that they can continue their studies here and we are fulfilling that task.”
The situation of the Tepesianos and the undocumented is a main topic on the agenda of Velázquez, who considers the state’s support for immigrants essential.
“At the state level we must continue to help solve the problems of immigrants, open the doors to citizenship and what is necessary for them to establish themselves well in the country, especially in the state of New Jersey, because they bring us so much wealth in the country, very good language, culture and customs,” Velázquez said. “We must do everything we can to give that community what they need to move forward.”
About 440,000 undocumented immigrants reside in New Jersey, according to a report by the Migration Policy Institute, which indicates that out of this number: 180,000 are born in Mexico and Central America, 40,000 in the Caribbean and 90,000 in South America. About 243,000 have lived in the Garden State for 10 years or more.
According to a report from the New Jersey Office of New Americans (NJONA), New Jersey has the fifth largest immigrant population in the United States, with more than 2 million foreign-born residents. Compared to the state’s total population, New Jersey has the third largest proportion of immigrant residents, behind California and New York. New Jersey’s population is one of the most diverse in the country and speaks many languages at home besides English, including 32% who speak Spanish.
For TPS beneficiaries, the new expiration dates of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) periods, for which they must reregister or otherwise lose this benefit, are for El Salvador, March 9, 2025; for Honduras, July 5, 2025; and for Nicaragua, July 5, 2025.
A report from the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, from 2017, indicates that among the immigrants who have TPS in the country there are approximately 186,403 Salvadorans, 70,281 Hondurans and 46,558 Haitians.
In New Jersey, TPS beneficiaries have lived in the state for more than 22 years. Although they have established themselves as students, workers, professionals and business owners, many are not sure that they will stay in the state they consider home, because of lack of permanent status.
“We have always worked with the focus of achieving a permanent status for TPS beneficiaries, although achieving a new extension is enough for them, our task is to support the Tepesianos organization to achieve permanent residence,” said Blanca Molina, executive director of CEUS NJ Community Center in North Bergen, who does not want a repeat of a decision to eliminate TPS like the one announced in 2018 by then-President Donald Trump.
Molina and other activists have joined the National TPS Alliance and Alianza América to fight for permanent residency, since the beneficiaries contribute to the country’s economy. Many have homes, businesses, are successful and contribute to the United States economy.
“The other part is that immigrants are not going to leave because they have put down roots in this country,” Molina said. “These people have been in the United States for more than 25 years, and the part of social justice is that they have given all their youth contributing to the economy of this country and have contributed to Social Security and it is not fair that they leave and not receive the money that corresponds to them.”
An average of 6,800 Salvadorans with TPS reside in the Garden State, 3,900 children are of Salvadoran parents born in the United States. There are 3,700 Hondurans with TPS and 3,700 children of Honduran parents protected with TPS, in addition to 3,400 Haitians with TPS in New Jersey with 1,100 children born to their Haitian parents with TPS, according to a 2017 report by the Center for American Progress.
If this community in New Jersey does not achieve permanent legal status and loses temporary status, its members risk being deported to a country where they have not lived for more than two decades.
Mauricio Espinal arrived in the United States in 2000, with his wife and his four children. Thanks to TPS he has been able to establish himself, create a business, educate his children, and live well. His two oldest children achieved citizenship because they married here and established their family. However, his two youngest children are still under TPS.
“With our efforts together with me and my wife we have paid for our children’s studies, and all four of them are professionals,” said Espinal, who is of Salvadoran origin. “Now we both also have citizenship, but everyone in our family needs to have citizenship.”
Espinal believes that all immigrants should have legal status and that it is necessary to obtain permanent residence for the 11 million undocumented immigrants, which also includes the Tepesians.
“As long as Congress does not create a law for us, we will always be in uncertainty, in agony, because when they renew the TPS we minimize the agony for 18 months, but we always live worried thinking about whether they will renew it or not,” Espinal said. “The political parties blame each other and for me both parties are to blame.”
Immigrants face instability both here and in their countries of origin. They leave home because of economic problems, lack of security and corruption only to live under uncertainty in the United States.
“When Donald Trump shook the TPS, people flooded the processing offices to grant power authorization to other people, in case they had to leave the country, so that they could leave their children with relatives, friends or neighbors,” Villalobos said. “They processed custody powers in case the TPS was removed, or they were deported, that was on the part of the parents, while the children felt fear when they saw on television how so many immigrant parents were deported and separated from their children.”
Villalobos, from El Salvador, added, “There many had to flee their homes due to threats, they had to leave their jobs, they had to pay quotas so they would not be attacked.”
The first trauma of an immigrant, Villalobos said, “is that they have to leave their country, the second is that they have to travel to a country they don’t know, the third is the poor treatment given to them as an immigrant, and the fourth is incorporating to a society that does not know its customs, its culture and its language. And if that is not enough trauma then the children suffer. I tell you that this is a country that undoubtedly needs immigrants, but there are egos and ill will on the part of the people and the rulers.”
Among several organizations that advocate for immigrants — during the plan to eliminate TPS and other temporary immigration benefits — was the American Friends Service Committee. In 2019 the leaders and members of this organization campaigned for respect for immigrants who do not have legal status in the country and called for a comprehensive immigration law.
“AFSC supports efforts that provide a roadmap to citizenship for TPS and DED holders and DACA recipients,” according to a statement it released in March 2019. “This roadmap must be established on a platform of shared values and humane treatment of all immigrants. We benefit as a society when hundreds of thousands of residents can plan for their future without fear of unrest.”
The nonprofit institution urged Congress to provide permanent relief to TPS and DED holders and DACA recipients without expanding detention infrastructure, increasing funding for immigration enforcement, or further militarizing our border communities.
“AFSC has worked for years to stop detention and deportation and institute fair and humane immigration policies,” AFSC said. “A roadmap to citizenship will protect TPS, DED and DACA recipients from policies that would criminalize them and their loved ones and increase persecution through detention and deportation.”
Sen. Bob Menéndez, who has worked with other legislators on projects for the legalization of the 11 million undocumented immigrants and for those who have TPS, believes that a greater effort should be made so that immigrants can live better lives.
“There are several ways the Biden administration can ensure that undocumented immigrants in New Jersey and across the country receive stability and security as they work toward the American dream here,” Menendez said. “That includes significantly expanding the availability of work authorizations, expanding the use of immigration forgiveness options for Dreamers and other undocumented populations, rapidly redesignating TPS status for countries where redesignation is obviously necessary, and granting new TPS designations for countries where warranted. Utilizing all of these options could benefit hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants, and would not require any action by Congress.”
Although an agreement has not been reached for immigration reform, he said, there are several executive measures that can be enacted without waiting for Congress to act.
“I have strongly advocated for all of these actions in my Menéndez Plan, which I published months ago as a blueprint for the Biden administration to take action on immigration without the need for Congress to act,” he added.
The senator appealed for a more humane approach to the current administration and immigration policy, so that the deportation of immigrant families who do not pose risks to the security of the United States is not encouraged.
“With regard to deportations, it is important to remember that the federal government has limited resources, so it must prioritize which populations will be deported,” he said. “It is essential that TPS recipients — who have complied with the rules — and migrant families are not unnecessarily prioritized for deportation. We must ensure we have a smart and humane approach that focuses on deporting violent criminals and national security risks.”
The Tepesians, for their part, do not want to sit idly by and are organizing with the National TPS Alliance for a meeting with legislators in Washington, D.C.
“We want to propose a permanent residence approach plan because we are tired,” Blanca Molina said. “It is a fight that we are having, particularly because in 2018 Trump announced the annulment of TPS — although thanks to the struggle of pro-immigrant groups they were not able to remove it — and from there is a push to continue organizing with the National TPS Alliance, of which the CEUS NJ Committee is a partner, and Alianza América that works for immigration justice.”
In the northern area of the state, immigrants have broad support from their elected officials, including Senator Brian Stack, which is a relief in that there are social assistance resources, and they are less vulnerable to fear of deportation.
Senator Stack, who represents the 33rd Legislative District, which includes the municipalities of Guttenberg, Secaucus, Union City, Weehawken, North Bergen and West New York, said he has worked on behalf of immigrants almost his entire life and continues to do so both from the state senate and from Union City in his capacity as mayor.
“I have supported immigrants for more than 40 years,” Stack said. “I started at 14 years old and have continued to support the residents of the areas I serve. They are our neighbors, friends and family.”
Maricarmen Amado is a journalist and translator with New Jersey Hispano, a bilingual online news outlet that covers topics of interest to the Latino community in the state. She has been providing Spanish translations of stories in partnership with the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, with the financial support of the NJ Civic Information Consortium.
This story is part of the NJ Decides 2023 voting guide, a project of NJ Spotlight News supported in part by the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University and funded by the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium.
