Setting the record straight on TPS and DACA
Boston, like all American cities, is a city of immigrants. With the exception of Boston’s Native American residents, all of our ancestors came to the United States from somewhere else. They came here seeking religious freedom, fleeing poverty or war, or searching for a place where they could build a better life for their children. My parents, for example, left rural Ireland in the 1950s seeking economic opportunity. They left what they knew behind and built a new life in Boston.
The stories of immigrants continue to define our city to this day. Recently, an East Boston resident and mother of three named Blanca shared hers with me. Twenty-one years ago, Blanca left El Salvador when a rash of violence killed her mother and husband. Pregnant, Blanca headed to the place where she’d have a shot at building a better life for her family: America. Boston. She got a stable job and worked hard. She bought a car and a house in Eastie. She had two more children. Today, she’s a valued member of our community and her family is thriving. They’re just as Bostonian as any of us.
Blanca has something called Temporary Protected Status, or TPS. TPS is a designation given to immigrants who were already in the United States when extraordinary circumstances, like a civil war or natural disaster occurred their home countries. Today, many immigrants in Boston have TPS or another special designation called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). DACA recipients were brought to the U.S. as children before 2010. They are either in school, have graduated from high school, or have served in the US Armed Forces. Both TPS holders and DACA recipients are lawfully present, and they have all passed criminal background checks. But most do not have a pathway to US citizenship because the system is extremely complicated and needs updating.
People like Blanca are our neighbors and co-workers. They own homes and businesses. Many have children and spouses who are US citizens. They pay taxes and strengthen our economy. But many of them live in a constant state of fear. Our broken immigration system has prevented most of them from getting the permanent residency status they so badly want. They’re terrified that the lives they’ve built here could be ripped away from them while they wait. This year, many of their worst fears have come true. In September, President Trump announced that he would end the DACA program. Over the past few months, he has announced that he will end TPS for people from four countries: Nicaragua, Sudan, Haiti, and, last week, El Salvador, where Blanca fled in 1997. Unless we’re able to find a solution, these neighbors of ours will be forced to return to places many of them haven’t been in decades.
Of all the deeply disturbing things that have happened since the President took office, this is one of the most hypocritical and un-American. Members of his administration must want us to forget that their own ancestors came here seeking a better life, the way my parents did. The way Blanca did. They’ve tried very hard to paint today’s immigrants as dangerous criminals, greedy freeloaders, and worse. The way they’ve talked about immigrants has turned to outright vulgarity. The way the President of the United States described many of their home countries the other day was an absolute disgrace.
In Boston, we are better than this. We see TPS holders and DACA recipients for who they are: human beings. Taking protection away from these Bostonians will not make our communities safer. To the contrary, it will introduce chaos. It will rip families apart. It will weaken an entire generation of Boston students, thinkers, and leaders. It will be an enormous loss for our city.
That’s why I’m so serious about this issue, and why I’ll never stop fighting for the dignity of Boston’s immigrants. Along with our strong Massachusetts delegation, I’m pushing Congress to develop solutions for TPS holders and DACA recipients as part of comprehensive immigration reform that provides real pathways to permanent residency and citizenship. Here in Boston, we’ll use every tool we’ve got. Our Office for Immigrant Advancement will continue to help immigrants thrive; we’re partnering with community organizations to develop legal clinics for TPS holders; and our Greater Boston Immigrant Defense Fund is providing lawyers to people facing deportation.
We’re going to remind the White House that America isn’t just defined by borders; America is defined by its values. Above all, we’re going to show what a proud City of immigrants looks like: It looks like a booming economy. It looks like a global hub for discovery, culture, and education. It looks like Boston.
