WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV), a member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), met with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General Joseph Cuffari following her December 5, 2019 letter requesting an investigation into allegations of improper political interference in the decision by DHS to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations for El Salvador, Nicaragua, Haiti, and Sudan.
“I had a productive meeting with DHS Inspector General, Dr. Joseph Cuffari in my office today,” said Senator Rosen. “During our conversation, I followed up on my letter from last week and reiterated my request for an investigation into allegations of improper political interference in the termination of TPS designations for El Salvador, Nicaragua, Haiti, Sudan, and requested that the termination of designations for Honduras and Nepal also be included in that investigation. I will continue working with the Inspector General to ensure his office has the resources it needs to investigate allegations of misconduct and abuse at CBP and ICE facilities, and across DHS.”
BACKGROUND: More than 4,000 individuals with TPS status live in Nevada.
Currently, there are approximately 420,000 TPS recipients in the United States from ten designated countries including El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. Liberians, originally granted TPS in 1999, are currently the only country protected by DED – that status is set to terminate on March 30, 2020.
Last week, Rosen sent a letter to Inspector General Joseph Cuffari requesting an investigation into allegations of improper political interference in the decision by DHS to terminate TPS designations for El Salvador, Nicaragua, Haiti, and Sudan.
Rosen is a co-sponsor of the Safe Environment from Countries Under Repression and in Emergency (SECURE) Act, legislation that would classify TPS and DED recipients who qualified under the most recent designation and who have been continuously present in the United States for at least three years as eligible to apply for legal permanent residency.
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