The struggles of temporary protected status holders were displayed in a days-long exhibit in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
Held from Sept. 16 through the 20 at the Thomas P. Golden Courtyard, the exhibit highlighted the experiences of people with nonpermanent immigration statuses.
Established by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security under the Immigration Act of 1990, TPS allows nationals from countries facing armed conflict, environmental disasters or other extraordinary conditions to live and work temporarily in the U.S. The program does not provide a path to permanent citizenship and thus requires federal renewals through the executive branch of the government every 6-18 months.
Patricia Campos-Medina ’96 M.S. ’97, executive director of the Worker Institute at Cornell’s ILR School and principal investigator of the “Stories of Belonging” exhibit, stated that despite their contributions, TPS workers remain at risk of deportation amid ongoing political debates.
TPS expanded under President Joe Biden although its future is uncertain amid the 2024 presidential election.
Former president Donald Trump has vowed to deport approximately 15-20 million undocumented immigrants if elected, which would be the largest deportation in history.
Trump has also criticized Harris’ leadership on immigration as vice president, notably calling her the “border czar.” Amid a rise in border crossings in 2021, Biden tapped Harris to examine the root causes of migration through diplomacy with El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
Harris has called the immigration system “broken” and in need of “reform,” saying, “We can do both … — create an earned pathway to citizenship and secure our border.”
The exhibit — titled “Stories of Belonging: Central American TPS Workers and Their Defiant Struggle to Stay Home in the U.S.” — featured a collection of photography, videos, field interviews and timelines documenting the ongoing struggles for citizenship rights and union organizing faced by over 325,000 Central American TPS holders in the U.S. as of March 2024. Exhibit text was provided in English and Spanish.
Campos-Medina discussed her connection to the issue.
Her family fled the Salvadoran Civil War in the 1980s and navigated the complexities of seeking political asylum. She said that Central American TPS workers today, many of whom have been in the U.S. since the 1990s, have contributed to the American economy and account for approximately 273,200 U.S.-born children.
The exhibit featured TPS worker Trinidad Garcia, a Brooklyn resident.
“My home is here,” Garcia is quoted as saying on a large exhibit board in English and Spanish. “I came escaping poverty 30 years ago and I was able to work and build a life here in the U.S. for my children. I have many grandchildren and great-grandchildren now and they all live here.”
It also featured TPS worker Oscar Rodriguez, a Long Island resident.
His exhibit board stated in English and Spanish, “I love Honduras, the place I was born. But I feel American, I just don’t have a paper that says I am American.”
Ariana Shapiro grad attended the exhibit.
She said that holding the exhibit was timely given former President Trump’s false claim that Haitian immigrants were eating pets during the Sept. 10 presidential debate.
Shapiro noted that many Haitian immigrants hold TPS, and she thus “feels [it] especially timely to have an exhibit and event in which these workers’ voices are elevated.”