PHOTO: BRYAN VANA / AFSC
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — In a powerful rally organized by the National TPS Coalition for Temporary Protected Status [of immigrants] and the Coalition and Northern and Southern California TPS, speakers delivered moving messages to Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi at the Federal Building in San Francisco on September 23, 2020.
The reason for the rally was the Ramos vs. Nielsen legal lawsuit against the decision to end TPS. In a speakers’ own words, the “racist” decision by 9th Circuit Court to end TPS for immigrants would result in the deportation of 400,000 TPS beneficiaries. About 230,000 to 260,000 children would be affected.
Cristina Morales, a Salvadorean TPS beneficiary and essential worker who spoke at the rally said: “We’re going to continue fighting. We’re going on until the end. I think about my sons’ sorrows . . . [and the need for] freedom, to walk on the streets . . . the terror . . . the fear is a terror that nobody, no family deserves . . . eleven million individuals are in limbo suffering in silence. They want to destroy my soul. Down with hate. Up with family. Vote in November. Think about the young Black men when you vote.”
Xionara Cruz, another TPS beneficiary said, “We’ve lost the tranquility. We’re in limbo and that’s why we decided to fight back. We’re going to continue fighting in this nation.”
A Latino immigrant said: “We’re going to stay. We deserve it. We’ve sustained this nation.”
These were some of the moving, powerful speakers at the launching of, “The Road to Justice, Residency Now,” a bus caravan that will travel to 33 to 44 states, culminating in Washington D.C. on November 13. The caravan will emphasize the need to support the legal suit, “Ramos vs. Nielsen.” The ACLU, five sons and daughters of TPS parents, and nine members of NDLON (National Day Laborers Organizing Network) have embarked on this journey because the former Secretary of State Kirstjen Nielsen, under the current administration, decreed against TPS for immigrants.
The ACLU, children of TPS parents and NDLON members are appealing the 9th Circuit Court’s September 14 ruling to end TPS. They vow to go to the Supreme Court.
El Salvador, Yemen, Sudan, Syria, Latin American countries are also impacted by the court ruling.
