RESOLUTION - TPS — File 203853

WHEREAS: The City of Somerville has had and maintains a long and proud history as a city that supports, values and respects its immigrants, regardless of their status of documentation, and refugees escaping war and natural disasters; and WHEREAS: Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a form of immigration status that provides employment authorization and protection from deportation for foreign nationals who cannot be safely returned to their home countries; and WHEREAS: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), will consider whether to extend designations of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for all nationals that currently hold TPS including over 300,000 Salvadoran, Honduran, Nicaraguan and Haitian immigrants; and WHEREAS: In light of the Trump Administration’s radical increase of interior and exterior immigration enforcement through executive orders, funding requests, and policy guidance, the continued existence of TPS is very much at risk; and WHEREAS: It is estimated that ending TPS for immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti and Honduras would result in a $6.9 billion reduction to Social Security and Medicare contributions over a decade, and the deportation of these individuals would cost taxpayers approximately $3.1 billion dollars; and WHEREAS: The City of Somerville recognizes the overwhelmingly positive contributions of TPS holders and their families to the economy, social fabric, diversity and well-being of our community; NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: The Somerville Board of Aldermen supports the Temporary Protected Status program and is calling on the Department of Homeland Security to continue the TPS program and support Immigrant and Refugees escaping war, natural disasters and crime; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That the City Clerk be and hereby is requested to forward a suitably engrossed copy of this resolution to Congressman Michael Capuano and Massachusetts Senators Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren on behalf of the Board of Aldermen.