Vision & Policy Recommendations for the Biden Administration

Safety and dignity for all now

The TPS-DED Administrative Advocacy Coalition envisions a United States where humanitarian immigration policy is prioritized for all people in need of protection. The Coalition asserts that along with the asylum and refugee resettlement systems, TPS is a major pillar of the U.S. humanitarian immigration system. TPS and DED both fill in gaps and catch people who may slip through cracks in the asylum or refugee resettlement systems (for example, due to systemic anti-Black racism in the immigration system) but are still in need of life-saving protection. TPS and DED are designated by the executive branch (meaning they are readily available tools to an administration and do not need to go through a legislative process), simultaneously protect all qualifying nationals from an entire country, and have no numerical limits. Accordingly, the Biden administration should use these protections expansively to safeguard people while longer term and permanent solutions are put in place, such as asylum or legislative immigration reform.

Immediate tools for stability while longer-term legislative solutions are put in place

The Biden administration has pledged to work towards a pathway to citizenship for 11 million undocumented people in the United States. Many people come from countries where forced return would put their lives and freedom at risk. Expansive TPS and DED would provide needed protection for those the Biden administration has already declared should be given permanent status in the United States while the legislative work is being done. Simply put, TPS or DED is the “downpayment” on the Biden administration’s larger immigration plan, providing relief now.

Root causes and foreign policy

The Biden administration has committed to addressing root causes that force people to come to the United States seeking safety and opportunity. TPS and DED are tools the administration can use to prevent destabilization caused by returnees and TPS and DED holders provide vital “unofficial foreign aid” in the form of remittances. The existence of DED in particular, which provides protection from deportation and work permits to nationals in the U.S. under the President’s authority to conduct foreign relations, shows how critical humanitarian protection is to achieving foreign policy goals and the U.S. having credibility on the world stage.