Senator Cortez Masto Urges Biden Administration to Protect Undocumented Immigrants

Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D) is urging the Biden Administration to protect undocumented immigrants in the wake of President Donald Trump’s promise to begin mass deportation efforts after his inauguration.

Dreamers were brought to this country as children. America is their home, and they deserve to continue to build their lives and stay with their families.

That's why I'm pushing the Biden Admin. to quickly process DACA renewals and give Dreamers the peace of mind they deserve. pic.twitter.com/dXgWkLLc89

— Senator Cortez Masto (@SenCortezMasto) December 5, 2024

Masto joined her democratic colleagues Senators Alex Padilla (CA) and Ben Ray Lugán (NM) in sending a letter (see below) urging President Joe Biden to “complete important work to protect long-term immigrant communities before the end of his term. Specifically, they called on the Biden-Harris administration to designate, redesignate, and extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Ecuador, Nicaragua, and El Salvador, as well as make it faster for DACA recipients to renew their status.

“We write today to urge you to act decisively during the remainder of your term of office to complete important work that will protect long-term immigrant communities and ensure that families are not returned to countries where they would face immense danger,” the senators wrote.

The senators urged President Biden to designate, redesignate, and extend TPS for eligible countries, saying, “worsening crises in countries around the world, including in Ecuador, Nicaragua, and El Salvador, continue to endanger hundreds of thousands of people. Nationals from these three countries cannot return home due to severe circumstances on the ground….We urge the administration to ensure that those from countries with meritorious cases are granted TPS, allowing these individuals to continue building their lives here and contributing to our country.”

The senators also called on President Biden to protect DACA recipients by expediting processing and expanding legal pathways. “We urge USCIS to process all deferred action renewals and Advance Parole requests as expeditiously as possible. USCIS should also allow all DACA recipients’ status to extend for the maximum time possible,” they said. They also called on the administration to make it easier for employers to sponsor DACA recipients for H-1B visas.

Last April, Elmer Rueda-Linares was arrested in connection with the death of Kurt Englehart, a Senior Advisor to Senator Cortez Masto. Rueda-Linares entered the country illegally in March 2021. Two days prior to his illegal entry into the United States, Cortez Masto, in an interview with MSNBC on March 10, warned that it is “misinformation” to claim there are open borders under the Biden Administration. “There are no open borders,” Cortez Masto said, “There are so many children! These children are fleeing for their lives.”