WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Kweisi Mfume (MD-07) issued the following statement regarding the Supreme Court of the United States' decision to allow the Trump Administration to eliminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian and Syrian nationals:
"With yesterday's disastrous decision, the far-right Supreme Court majority has put the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of immigrant families in jeopardy and will harm employers and weaken communities in Baltimore and nationwide. The Court has shamefully handed President Trump the green light to tear families apart and punish people who have done nothing more than work hard, contribute to their communities, and follow the law."
"In the hours after the ruling, I proudly stood in front of the Supreme Court with Marylanders and people of goodwill from across the country. We came to reject this unjust decision and to stand with the families it targets, who are our neighbors, our coworkers, and the parents of American children.
"TPS holders are nursing assistants and caregivers. They keep our hospitals and farms and businesses running, and they have earned their place in the only home their children have ever known. Haitian TPS holders alone generate an estimated $5.9 billion for our economy each year and pay more than $1.5 billion in taxes, and 50,000 U.S. citizen children have a parent who holds Haitian TPS. Breaking up these families and harming the economy we all share is both cruel and misguided, and Congress cannot stand by while it happens.
"Congress must now move to protect TPS holders and pass the bipartisan American Dream and Promise Act, which I am a proud original cosponsor of. The bill would offer lawful permanent residence and an earned path to citizenship for TPS recipients, and the Dreamers brought here as children. I promise to keep fighting until the people who have given so much to this country can remain in it with dignity and without fear."
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