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Washington, DC — On Friday, the Trump Administration announced they would be ending temporary protected status for Hondurans who were displaced by a hurricane in 1999. After 20 years of living and contributing here, including many who have started businesses and bought homes, it is estimated that 60,000 Hondurans will be forced to return to Honduras by January 2020. Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27) released the following statement:
“Once again, as when he expelled immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Nepal, Trump is showing that he thinks defending America means getting rid of minorities. Two decades ago, we invited these Hondurans to create a life here when the devastation from a hurricane made it impossible there. To our great benefit, 86,000 took us up on that offer, and for the past twenty years, they have made America their home, living and contributing exactly as we’d hope from any immigrant. But now they’re being forced out simply because they were born someplace else. That’s the plain truth.
“None of Trump’s other feints at legitimate arguments for deportation hold up here. They broke no laws, pose no national security threat, and actually contribute greatly to our economy. These are consumers, workers, and entrepreneurs. They are homeowners, college graduates, parents, neighbors, and Americans in every sense of the word. But all Trump can see is their country of origin, a defect that has plagued his decisions from the start of his campaign, when he labeled all immigrants from Mexico as criminals and rapists, and which he followed up with a ban on immigrants from Muslim countries.
“This policy is a drag on our economy. It will disrupt communities. It will hurt families. It will isolate immigrants while eroding our values. No matter how you approach it this policy is cruel and inhumane. Its only purpose is to shift the racial demographics of this country, as Trump’s advisers have vocally championed. Every American of conscience should be opposed.”
