M-DCPS School Board asks protections for law-abiding immigrants
DORAL, FL – Danny Espino, as main sponsor, along with co-sponsors Steve Gallon, Luisa Santos, and Joseph Geller, from Miami-Dade School Board, proposed a measure to ask the Trump administration to grant safeguards for the thousands of Venezuelans and Haitians that would lose their Temporary Protected Status (TPS) after the executive order issued last month to end it.
According to the memo issued by the board, the program allows individuals from countries experiencing “extraordinarily challenging circumstances”, such as human rights violations, political oppression and armed conflict, to name a few, to reside and work legally in the United States.
As many of them reside in the county, the item calls on federal policy makers to “create new measures that stabilize the immigration, employment, and protection status of law-abiding individuals who fled countries due to religious and political persecution, economic upheaval and civil unrest due to political corruption, and other similar crises.”
“These families have become integral parts of our schools and productive members of our community and contribute significantly to our community’s cultural, social, and academic richness.” reads the memo, while also asked not to assume all individuals who had TPS are criminals.
“The overwhelming majority in our community that were previously covered by TPS are law-abiding and availed themselves of TPS to establish safe and productive lives for themselves and their families in the United States—their version of the American Dream.”
Revoking their TPS – says the release- will compromise the legal status of students and families in Miami-Dade County, as well as destabilize them financially due to the lack of access to legal employment.
In addition, losing such protections and, thus, having to return to their conflicting home countries after being productive members of society here could be detrimental to their mental and emotional well-being and “work counter to the type of immigration policy that our nation has historically favored.”
The measure had a positive reception by the board as a whole and passed with 5 votes in favor and 3 dissenting ones. During the meeting, Steve Gallon called immigrants in the community “friends,” and Danny Espino persuaded his fellow board members to support the item. Dorothy Bendross-Mindigal was included as co-sponsor during the meeting before casting the fifth vote in favor.
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