El Ejecutivo del condado de Suffolk, Steve Bellone, y la Ejecutiva del condado de Nassau, Laura Curran, enviaron una carta a los miembros del Congreso Lee Zeldin (NY-1), Peter T. King (NY-2), Thomas R. Suozzi (NY-3) y Kathleen Rice (NY-4) instándoles a tomar medidas legislativas inmediatas para extender las protecciones a más de 14,700 salvadoreños que viven en Long Island.
A principios de esta semana, la Administración federal anunció que pondría fin a los permisos de residencia provisionales de los salvadoreños a quienes se les otorgó Estatus de Protección Temporal (TPS), muchos de los cuales han vivido en los Estados Unidos desde al menos 2001.
Los Ejecutivos también publicaron un análisis realizado por el Departamento de Desarrollo Económico y Planificación del Condado de Suffolk que proyecta un impacto económico grave debido a esta decisión. Se estima una reducción de 1.4 mil millones de dólares en el producto económico anual y la pérdida de casi 13,500 empleos en Long Island.
Una copia de la carta que fue enviada el jueves se puede encontrar a continuación (en inglés) :
January 11, 2018
Dear Members of Congress,
We write to you as the Congressional representatives for Long Island to express our concern over the recent decision by the federal Administration to end the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program for those individuals from El Salvador. The decision by the Administration to terminate TPS for over 14,700 Salvadorans on Long Island will place thousands of Long Island families, and our local economy, at risk. We respectfully ask that you take immediate action to address this urgent threat to our region.
The TPS decision could ultimately result in a massive economic hit to Long Island. A recent analysis performed by the Suffolk County Department of Economic Development and Planning shows that the removal of Salvadoran TPS holders on Long Island would result in an $800 million loss in household spending to our region on an annual basis. The analysis also shows a reduction of $1.4 billion in economic output, $395 million in reduced earnings, a potential loss of nearly 13,500 jobs, and an $860 million hit in reduced Gross Domestic Product.
If the broader economic impact was not bad enough, the individual blow to homeowners is even worse. There are nearly 4,000 Salvadoran TPS residents who hold mortgages in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. A conservative assumption of $150,000 per mortgage would result in $594 million in loans that could go unpaid, and result in those homes going up for auction or adding to the “zombie” home challenge we are already combating.
Worst of all, the timing of this decision adds insult to injury. As you know, Congress recently passed a devastating tax bill that eliminates the state and local tax deductions for homeowners on Long Island. Experts agree that this will raise taxes on middle-class families while reducing home property values. Therefore, the decision to allow TPS to sunset for other homeowners will exacerbate the negative impact to the housing market and create a one-two punch that we simply cannot afford.
We urge you to support and champion a legislative solution to keep thousands of Long Island families and taxpayers here. Simply put, it is time for Congress to come together and finally pass comprehensive immigration reform that fixes our broken system, secures our border, and provides a pathway to citizenship for those seeking to live the American Dream.
We urge you to work with your colleagues on both sides of the aisle to advance this priority for the people of Nassau and Suffolk Counties.
Sincerely,
STEVEN BELLONE
Suffolk County Executive
LAURA CURRAN
Nassau County Executive
