June 13, 2023

Statement from Congressman Castro on the Biden Administration’s Failure to Redesignate TPS for El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal

WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), the highest-ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, released the following statement in response to the Biden administration’s decision not to redesignate Temporary Protected Status for El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal.

“In recent years, families from El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal have fled brutal violence, catastrophic climate disasters, and political repression to begin new lives in the United States. I’m concerned that the Biden administration has allowed political fear rather than humanitarian concern to drive its decision.

“I strongly urge the administration to reverse course and redesignate Temporary Protected Status for El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal and issue a new designation for Guatemala. Unless President Biden does the right thing, millions of people will remain in limbo – terrified to return home to countries that are not safe, and unable to work or contribute to the American communities they now call home. Without broader Congressional action, redesignating TPS could be the most consequential thing this administration does on immigration and will define President Biden’s legacy for millions of immigrants.”

Congressman Castro has long been one of the leading Congressional voices to redesignate TPS for El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal. Days before this decision, Congressman Castro and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus sent a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and Secretary of State Antony Blinken urging the administration to issue new TPS designations for El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal and to redesignate TPS for Venezuela. In April, Congressman Castro and Senator Kaine led 116 additional members of the House and Senate in calling on the Biden Administration to continue to protect displaced Salvadorans and Hondurans by redesignating El Salvador and Honduras for Temporary Protected Status (TPS).

In February 2022, Castro and Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20) led the call for the administration to redesignate and extend TPS for Nicaragua. Later that year, Castro and Congressman Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) led a bipartisan letter urging the administration to extend TPS for Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua.