Overview
Join us for the public release of our latest report on immigrant workers, “We Are Home: TPS Workers Belong Here.”
Today, nearly 1.6 million immigrant workers hold Temporary Protected Status (TPS) or related temporary protections, including approximately 300,000 Central Americans who have maintained legal status for 25-30 years. Recent federal immigration enforcement policies and efforts to terminate the TPS legal status of countless immigrants of color, including 300,000 Haitians and 600,000 Venezuelans, threaten to further increase the exploitation of low-wage immigrant workers in key industries such as healthcare, construction and logistic services.
This report examines the experiences of Central American TPS workers in New York state, adding data to earlier findings by Campos-Medina (2019) that show TPS holders are critical participants in our economy. They have developed strong attachments to their local communities, are members of unions, and engage in social movement organizing, demonstrating their adherence to American values and society. Their stories make a powerful claim to belonging through long-term contributions, family ties, and participation in American ideals and values. As policymakers consider the future of TPS, the experiences of these workers highlight the need for durable immigration solutions that recognize the role of workers with TPS in the nation's economic and social fabric. “This is my home” is the recurring message shared by TPS workers across this research report and the Stories of Belonging project at the Worker Institute at Cornell ILR.
TPS workers will provide testimony. Elected officials and the press will be invited.
This event will be held in person and online.
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Key Findings
TPS workers overwhelmingly identify New York and the United States as their home.
Participants reported strong integration into their communities and commitment to American values.
TPS holders have made substantial economic contributions through decades of legal employment and tax payments.
More than 279,200 U.S.-citizen children depend on TPS-holder parents for their well-being and stability.
The threat of deportation and family separation creates lasting social, emotional, and economic harm.
Researchers at the Worker Institute at Cornell ILR, describe the experience of TPS Workers as "bounded integration." TPS holders function as full members of society but continue to face uncertainty because their legal status must be repeatedly renewed and provides no pathway to permanent residency or citizenship. The current de-legalization efforts towards their status have put the lives of all 1.6 million TPS workers in a standstill as they are threatened with deportation and displacement from the lives they have built in compliance with American values for the last two decades.
Additional speakers will be announced soon.
