There were more extensions of Temporary Protected Status Friday, with Sudan, Ukraine and Venezuela joining El Salvador on the Biden administration’s list, reports Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News.
The announcement enables close to 1 million immigrants with current protections and work authorization to renew them, through March 2026 for recipients from El Salvador and October 2026 for those from the remaining three countries.
The expansion gives a respite for those who have lived and worked under such programs for decades in the United States. "It brings me peace of mind, a breath of fresh air. It offers me stability," said José Palma, an El Salvador native who has lived in the United States for almost three decades.
Advocates are praising the move too, reports John Hilliard of the Boston Globe. "The best thing is to keep these folks in our country," said Jeffrey Thielman, president and chief executive of the International Institute of New England. "They are, for the most part, contributing to the country, working, paying taxes. Their kids are in schools, and they’re adding value to the United States."
The incoming Trump administration has promised to cut back the Temporary Protected Status program, as Trump's first administration attempted, reports Gisela Salomon of the Associated Press.
Welcome to Monday’s edition of The Forum Daily. I’m Dan Gordon, the Forum’s strategic communications VP, and the great Forum Daily team also includes Jillian Clark, Broc Murphy, Soledad Gassó Parker, Clara Villatoro and Becka Wall. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected].
SOCIAL SECURITY — Undocumented immigrants in the United States provide the Social Security Administration billions in income each year, reports Tara Siegel Bernard of The New York Times. The figure for 2022 was $25.7 billion, according to recent findings from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Should President-elect Donald Trump follow through on his vow to complete the largest mass deportation in U.S. history, the cost to Social Security could reach $20 billion, according to the Social Security Administration.
SOLUTIONS – The Utah Compact on Immigration provides a bipartisan and compassionate approach to securing the border and reworking our immigration system, writes Derek B. Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber, in an op-ed in the Deseret News. "I hope our federal elected officials adopt a common sense and humane approach to a solution that satisfies the economic and moral imperatives the Utah Compact calls for," Miller writes.
EDUCATION — Educators are sharing their concern as students and parents turn to schools for information on what mass deportation could look like in their communities, reports Didi Martinez of NBC News. Teachers across six states share challenges for educators who are considering how best to support families and balance legality. "I never in a million years thought that they [students] would ask me and have fears about immigration," said Melanie Claros, a civics teacher and ESL coordinator in Florida.
'FROM THE ASHES’ — "Immigrants will be the ones bringing Los Angeles back from the ashes," León Krauze writes in his column in The Washington Post. Krauze highlights immigrants’ importance in the construction industry nationwide and warns of the impact mass deportation could have on recovery efforts. "Immigrant labor has already been vital in the recovery of other U.S. cities devastated by natural disasters," he writes, citing recent hurricanes in Florida. Immigrants also have been helping in real time, as Adrian Florido of NPR reports.
P.S. Kiko Martinez of Remezcla introduces us to Ezekiel Pacheco, "the first DACA recipient to lead a Hollywood film."
