New Mexico U.S. Senator Ben Ray Lujan is urging president Joe Biden to move quickly to defend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and DACA recipients before his term ends.
Lujan and fellow senators Catherine Cortez Masto, of Arizona, and Alex Padilla, of California, held a press conference yesterday morning at the Capitol Building.
While president-elect Trump has pledged to enact deportations of immigrants on day one, Lujan said he wants to work with the incoming administration to come up with a better solution.
”We will work with the current and future administration to protect immigrants — TPS holders, dreamers, families fleeing violence, and anyone who seeks shelter on our soil in good faith," Lujan said.
“Mass deportations will jeopardize the safety and security of millions of mixed status families, sowing deep distrust and fear in the communities we represent, and without a doubt, destabilize the United States economy.”
Lujan cited a figure estimating that immigrants contributed $1.6 trillion to the U.S. economy in 2022.
He also told the story of one of New Mexico’s more than 4,500 DACA recipients, emphasizing the man’s accomplishments since coming to the U.S.
Twenty-seven-year old Arlen, Lujan said, graduated from UNM with a dual degree in computer science and sociology and leads food drives in his hometown of Belen.
Lujan and the other two senators sent a letter to Biden last week asking him to extend TPS for Ecuador, Nicaragua, and El Salvador, and to expedite the DACA renewal process.
