(Sacramento, CA) – Assembly Bill 1862, authored by Assemblymember Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles) and Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo (D-East Los Angeles), was approved by the Assembly Judiciary Committee today on a bi-partisan basis with a vote of 8-1. The bill will appropriate $10 million to the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) to provide immigration services to individuals who are current or former recipients of the federal Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
In November 2017, the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security announced an end to TPS protections for nearly 60,000 Haitians and 2,500 Nicaraguans. On January 8, 2018, the TPS designation for El Salvador was also terminated, leaving approximately 262,000 people from El Salvador without legal protections by fall of 2019.
"Unless Nicaraguan, Haitian, and Salvadoran TPS recipients find a way to adjust their residency status, they will be forced to leave the country by 2019,” said Assemblymember Santiago. “Those deported will return to countries still affected by natural disasters, environmental challenges, food insecurity, and high unemployment and crime rates. Additional funding is necessary to diversify and strengthen current efforts to assist groups targeted for removal to ensure our vulnerable immigrant population receives the necessary services to remain in California,” he continued.
According to a recent report by the Center for Migration Studies, as of January 2017, approximately 55,000 TPS recipients from El Salvador, Haiti, and Honduras live in California—a higher total than any other state. TPS recipients from these three countries reside in 206,000 households and have an estimated 273,000 U.S.-born children (who are not themselves holders of TPS because they are citizens not subject to deportation). An estimated 61,100 (about 30%) of these households have mortgages, and the labor force participation rate of the TPS population from these three countries ranges from 81 to 88 percent, which exceeds the rate for the total U.S. population (63%) and the foreign-born population (66%). About 68,000 (22%) of the TPS population from these nations arrived as children under the age of 16, and more than one-half of El Salvadoran and Honduran, and 16 percent of the Haitian TPS beneficiaries have resided in the United States for 20 years or more.
Assemblywoman Carrillo states that “AB 1862 is our urgent response to President Trump’s heartless decision to end TPS for thousands of hard-working individuals across the country. As an immigrant from El Salvador, I am committed to ensuring every TPS recipient in California has access to legal representation and advice in these trying times. I am proud to author this bill jointly with Assemblymember Santiago to make certain our committed nonprofit partners have the support they need to offer rightful legal services to all who seek them, now and in the future.”
This bill seeks to ensure greater state funding for qualified organizations to provide immigration services for persons who are facing legal complications from the termination of federal TPS. Specifically, the bill would appropriate 10,000,000 million to the CDSS to be available for payment to existing organizations under contract with CDSS to provide immigration services, so that their work may be extended to assist clients who are current or former recipients of TPS.
AB 1862 will next head to the Assembly Human Services for a vote in the coming weeks.
Assemblymember Miguel Santiago is the Chair of the Assembly’s Communications and Conveyance Committee, and a member of both the Assembly Public Safety Committee and the California Latino Legislative Caucus. He represents the 53rd District composed of the cities of Los Angeles, Huntington Park, and Vernon.
Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo is the newly elected representative of the 51st Assembly District. She is also a member of both the Assembly Public Safety Committee and the California Latino Legislative Caucus. Her district includes East Los Angeles and the neighborhoods of El Sereno, Echo Park, Elysian Valley, Northeast LA and parts of Silver Lake.
CONTACT: Santiago: Jackie.Koenig@asm.ca.gov, (916) 319-2053
Carrillo: Alicia.Isaacs@asm.ca.gov, (916) 319-2051