USA PHILIPPINES CITIZENS WORKING IN THE COUNTRY ASKING IMMIGRATION AUTHORITIES TO GRANT TEMPORARY STATUS TO THOSE WHOSE HOMES ARE AFFECTED IN PHILIPPINES SUPER TYPHOON HAIYAN 23RD NOVEMBER 2013 WASHINGTON (CNS)—The “widespread loss of life and property” in the Philippines caused by Super Typhoon Haiyan warrants granting temporary protected status to Philippine citizens residing in the United States, a U.S. bishop told federal officials in a Nov. 18 letter. The status, known as TPS, allows citizens of the designated country to reside legally in the United States with work authorization. The U.S. government grants it after determining that armed conflict, political unrest, environmental disaster, or other extraordinary and temporary conditions exist in a nation and that the return of that country’s nationals would further destabilize the nation and potentially bring harm to those who return. In the case of people from the Philippines, TPS “would protect them from deportation to a nation that, for the time being, is unable to assist them in their reintegration,” said Seattle Auxiliary Bishop Eusebio Elizondo, chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Migration. “(It) would ensure that nationals of the country currently residing in the United States are able to work and to send remittances back to their families, thus helping aid the recovery,” he wrote in a letter addressed to Rand Beers, acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Copies of the letter were sent to Secretary of State John Kerry and Denis McDonough, White House chief of staff. Haiyan cut a path of devastation across the central Philippines Nov. 8. Vietnam also was hit by the typhoon.
Posted on: Mon, 25 Nov 2013 05:30:48 +0000
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