Advocates Call For New TPS Designation For Honduras As Vice President Harris Makes First Trip To Tegucigalpa

As Vice President Kamala Harris prepares to attend the inauguration of Honduran President-elect Xiomara Castro.

The Temporary Protected Status Deferred Enforced Departure Administrative Advocacy Coalition (TPS-DED AAC) reiterates its call for the Biden Administration to newly designate post-hurricane Honduras for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for an 18-month period.

A new designation of Honduras would benefit as many as 400,000 individuals.

Hurricanes Eta and Iota created an ongoing humanitarian crisis in Honduras that makes it impossible to safely return individuals to the country.

With lives lost, infrastructure wiped out, and billions of dollars in economic damages, Honduras cannot afford the instability that accompanies an influx of as many as 400,000 returned nationals.

With lives lost, infrastructure wiped out, and billions of dollars in economic damages, Honduras cannot afford the instability that accompanies an influx of as many as 400,000 returned nationals.

Neither should the country be made to contend with the reduction in remittances that currently make up 24% of its GDP.

Neither should the country be made to contend with the reduction in remittances that currently make up 24% of its GDP.

With a new government taking power in Honduras, this is an opportunity for the Biden Administration to reset.

Yanira Arias, National Campaigns Manager of Alianza Americas and Steering Committee Member stated: “Alianza Americas organizational members provide support, services, and civic engagement opportunities to more than 100,000 Hondurans every year in hundreds of cities across the United States. TPS has benefited the lives of thousands of Honduran households, both in the U.S. and in Honduras, and those protected by TPS continue to contribute to the economic, social, and cultural development of the United States. We urge President Biden and Vice President Harris to provide a new TPS designation for Honduras, an important step to uphold humanitarian protections for our friends and neighbors.”

Lisa Parisio, Advocacy Director at CLINIC stated: “TPS has been underused historically and under the Biden administration and the TPS-DED AAC continues to call on the administration to use TPS broadly and boldly, including for Honduras. A new designation of TPS for Honduras would protect human life, keep families together, support economies here and in Honduras, and serve other vital domestic and foreign policy interests.”

The TPS-DED AAC is a national coalition of more than 100 organizations with deep expertise in law and policy surrounding TPS and DED.

Member organizations range from community-based organizations directly serving impacted communities in the United States to international NGOs, working in and providing insight from affected countries.