The day after the US Supreme Court allowed the Trump Administration to terminate TPS (Temporary Protected Status) for over 350,000 Haitians and over 6,100 Syrians, PLP members joined with others from the Haiti Action Committee and NorCal TPS Coalition to protest in front of the SF California Court House. Many TPS holders were terrified to come out in public and it was last minute, so not many people turned out.  PLP members distributed CHALLENGE with a TPS article to participants and to some people walking by. It explained the long history of TPS and how it fit in with capitalism’s demand to maximize profit from the labor of the working class.  

PLP members and friends have been actively supporting TPS workers from more than 17 countries for years; always emphasizing that we can not be divided by our country of origin or the revolving dates that TPS programs expire. 

Bosses profit from immigrant labor

Here are examples of what “temporary” means and the turmoil the TPS program creates. 1) DHS (Homeland Security) is in charge of renewing TPS status every 18 months and issuing work permits.  2) DHS collects millions yearly from TPS beneficiaries from this process.  3)As of now, like Haitians and Syrians, workers from Honduras and Nicaragua cannot renew.  4) Workers from El Salvador have an expiration date of 09\09\26. BUT their renewal is not being processed. . 5) The result is chaos: With no process in place to renew, these TPS holders cannot collect their Social Security, Medicare or other benefits that they have paid for through years of taxes. Without a work permit, many are removed from their jobs. (See USCIS web site for more information.) TPS groups and other organizations continue to lobby and to try legal maneuvers to delay these terminations but most people have no confidence in these processes.

Spokes-people in the Health Care Industry around the country, have lamented that Haitian workers, in particular, are the backbone of care in many hospitals and clinics. The NYT and NPR have both reported on the pending staffing crisis caused by the potential deportation of Haitian workers.  Fellow health care workers and patients have rallied in defense of TPS workers around the country. 

Our community in the SF Bay Area is organizing to protect any TPS holders who choose to go “underground” if their status expires. 

More needs to be done 

PLP members will continue to support TPS workers at any and all levels, but we recognize that we need to destroy the U.S. capitalist system that divides and exploits workers around the world to maximize profits and to stay ahead of other capitalist, imperialist, countries like China, Russia, European, Japan,etc. Immigrant workers who seek a better life are a life-blood of capitalist profits around the world.