Grace Puchaicela, part of a collective of Ecuadorians advocating for Temporary Protected Status, speaks at a press conference on May 29, 2024. Photo by Madison McVan/Minnesota Reformer.
Three Minnesota city councils — Minneapolis, St. Paul and Columbia Heights — have passed resolutions in support of Temporary Protected Status for Ecuador, a federal immigration designation for countries in crisis. TPS would allow Ecuadorians already in the U.S. to legally live and work for as long as the designation is active.
A collective of Ecuadorians in Minneapolis has been lobbying elected officials at all levels of government to support TPS and raise awareness for the campaign.
At a press conference Wednesday, Ecuadorian immigrants stood next to city leaders and staff from COPAL, a nonprofit that organizes Latinos to work on state labor, economic and political issues.
“I’m very excited that we have a City Council that’s stood strong and supportive of our Ecuadorian community, but also know that this fight is not over and we need to do more than just this resolution as we help our immigrant community in the United States,” Minneapolis Council Member Jason Chavez said.
U.S. immigration authorities can designate a country for TPS if conditions in that country are so dangerous that U.S. authorities cannot safely deport its citizens.
In Ecuador, a pandemic-induced economic downturn coincided with the rise of drug cartels and related violence. Since 2018, the murder rate has quadrupled. Violence has led to temporary school closures. In January, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa declared a state of emergency, saying that the country is facing an “internal armed conflict.”
Grace Puchaicela, one of the members of the collective, said that for many Ecuadorians, “the desperate idea of migrating to the United States…becomes the only option to escape violence and poverty.”
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minnesota, is an author of a House bill that would grant TPS to Ecuador. But with anti-immigration Republicans in control of the House, and heightened concern over the crisis at the southern border, the bill has not moved forward.
Although Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas can designate TPS for Ecuador unilaterally, he faces severe scrutiny from U.S. House Republicans, who impeached him this year.
In March, Omar and other Democrats sent a letter to Mayorkas and Secretary of State Andrew Blinken, urging the federal agencies to consider TPS designation for Ecuador.
In response, Ur Mendoza Jaddou, director of U.S. Customs and Immigration Services, wrote “DHS continues to monitor conditions in Ecuador and remains committed to administering its programs, including TPS, in an equitable manner.”
More than a dozen countries are currently designated for TPS, including Afghanistan, Somalia, El Salvador, Haiti, Syria and Ukraine.
The post Minnesota city leaders call for temporary protected status for Ecuador appeared first on Minnesota Reformer.