Earlier this year, the Committee partnered with CASA and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP to challenge the unlawful and unconstitutional termination of temporary protected status (“TPS”) for Salvadorans who, for nearly two decades, have resided in and enriched our communities. The complaint was filed on March 23, 2018, and can be read here.

On Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2018, the U.S. District Court of the District of Maryland heard oral argument on the government’s motion to dismiss. The Committee’s co-counsel, Caroline Wolverton at Akin Gump, delivered a powerful argument on behalf of the Plaintiffs. Following the hearing, CASA held a press conference on the courthouse steps – among the speakers were community leaders, TPS recipients, their families, and religious leaders. Skadden Fellow and Associate Counsel Tiffany Yang also delivered a few remarks, where she shared the following words:

We are here this morning to protect the rights of our Salvadoran brothers and sisters, neighbors, and community members. The Constitution prohibits the federal government from taking actions motivated by a discriminatory purpose, and the Trump administration’s unlawful and unconstitutional actions are what bring us to the courthouse today.

This administration has been explicit with the world about its discriminatory intent. Our complaint identifies the racial and xenophobic animus that frequently animated Trump’s campaign, took root in the White House, and revealed itself in the Oval Office. Nearly seven full pages of our complaint are filled with citations and quotations of disparaging comments, made by the Trump campaign and administration, against Salvadorans, Latino immigrants, and other people of color. It was the President of the United States, when briefed about an immigration bill, who appallingly referred to El Salvador as a “shithole country” and asked why white immigrants from Norway could not be invited in their place. Our allegations are clear: racial and ethnic animus unlawfully motivated the decision to terminate TPS and remove Salvadoran TPS holders from our communities.

When TPS was rescinded for El Salvador, the federal register notice claimed that conditions on the ground had improved so drastically in recent months that TPS was no longer warranted for the nearly 200,000 Salvadorans living with us today. Our complaint says: this is false.  This is pretext.  These empty justifications cannot erase – and in fact, help demonstrate – the discriminatory animus that motivated the government’s decision to terminate TPS. The government’s actions clearly violated fundamental constitutional protections, and they cannot stand unchallenged.

We were here today as a reminder that TPS holders do not face this alone. That we cannot stand by in the face of such blatant and explicit discrimination. We must and will continue to fight.