Residency Campaign: Earned Permanent Residence
Nearly 14 years ago, Central America was hit with several devastating natural disasters which had a significant impact on entire communities throughout the region and led to hundreds of thousands of Central American families establishing roots in the United States. In 1998, Hurricane Mitch, one of the deadliest hurricanes in Central American history, ravaged Honduras and Nicaragua and resulted in the loss and displacement of thousands, as well as a collapse in the physical infrastructure. Due to this devastation, Temporary Protective Status (TPS) was designated to both countries in 1999.
TPS has allowed its beneficiaries to remain in the U.S. since then with mandatory renewal every 18 months to maintain this status. TPS holders are productive members of our society with the same dreams and hopes as many of us, and have worked very hard to provide for their families, buy their first home here in the U.S., or open their own business. The costs associated with this renovation are high and burdensome for many families.
Thousands of families who have lived here nearly a decade or more are in a state of limbo, because they do not know what could happen to them after the 18 month period that their status is valid. The only way to secure a more stable and safe future for them is to enable them to become Permanent Residents and which will consequently, put them on the path to U.S. Citizenship. Currently, TPS beneficiaries from Central America include: approximately 64,000 Hondurans, 212,000 Salvadorans, and 3,000 Nicaraguans.
Leaders from the Central American community gathered in Houston on January 29th and 30th to launch the national Permanent Residence Campaign.
A national campaign was launched on January 30th, 2012 in Houston and we invited our TPS community, legislators, community organizations and activists, congregations, unions, and all those who support a fair and viable solution for immigrant families in the U.S. to participate and support this initiative.
In the coming months cities across the US will be hosting events to launch the campaign in their communities. For more information about how you can get involved contact Jose Artiga at jose@share-elsalvador.org or call 510-848-8487. Check this page for the latest updates, how to get involved, a calendar of events – coming soon!
More Information:
Join the Residence Campaign Facebook Page
Visit the official website: www.residencynow.org
Permanent Residence Campaign Press Release Jan. 12, 2012
Partial List of the Coalición por la Residencia for the Permanente/Residence Campaign for Central Americans with TPS: América para Todos (Houston, TX) , CARECEN (Los Angeles, CA), CARECEN (Washington, DC), CAUSA (Oregon), Centro Cívico Salvadoreño (Dallas, TX), Centro Romero (Chicago IL), Centro Hispano Cuzcatlan (Jamaica, NY), CEUS (Union City, NJ), Comites de Beneficiarios-as del TPS (CA, TX, DC), CRECEN (Houston TX), East Bay Sanctuary Covenant (Berkeley, CA,) Immigrant Rights Program (Newhart, NI) La Fundacion SHARE (Berkeley, CA), North Carolina Latin American Coalition (Charlotte, NC), SALEF (Los Angeles, CA), Sunflower Community Action (Wichita, KS), Voluntarios por El Salvador (Houston TX), Wind of the Spirit (NJ)
