Local Colombian immigrants are gearing up for another fight following the December failure of a congressional bill that would have granted them amnesty (see “Catch-22,” News and Features, October 13, 2000). This time, they’ve borrowed a page from such immigrant groups as Salvadorans and Guatemalans by pushing for the next best thing to permanent residency: temporary protection from deportation.

From East Boston to Malden to Lowell, immigrants are circulating a petition urging President George W. Bush to grant “temporary protection status,” or TPS, to hundreds of thousands of Colombians living illegally in the United States. Refugees of war-torn countries can receive such status if a return to their homelands would seriously endanger their safety. The designation, advocates say, would protect undocumented Colombians from deportation to a place where civil war has been heightened by $1.6 billion in US military aid bestowed under the so-called Plan Colombia.

“The Colombian people need help fast,” explains Raquel Matthews of Voices in Action, a Malden-based immigrant-advocacy group that is leading the drive. Advocates estimate that as many as 100,000 Colombians per day have come to the US since Plan Colombia was enacted last August. Adds Matthews, “We are saying to the president, ‘Give these people TPS and start to do something about the situation in Colombia.’”

The message has resonated with Massachusetts senator Edward Kennedy, who has asked his Senate colleagues to help. Kennedy and Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas), the ranking member of the immigration subcommittee, plan to write a letter to President Bush asking him to grant TPS to Colombian immigrants. So far, eight senators, including the Bay State’s John Kerry, have agreed to sign the letter, which is expected to be presented to the president before senators leave for summer recess next month.

A similar letter, meanwhile, has already made its way through the US House of Representatives and onto Bush’s desk. Last week, US Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Florida) gave the president a note signed by two dozen congressmen, including all 10 Massachusetts representatives. More than 100 human-rights, immigrant, and Colombian groups from across the country have also petitioned Bush.

Matthews has high hopes for TPS because Bush “is trying to woo the minority people to his party.” Though the president has expressed his staunch support for Plan Colombia, she notes, “he wants to gain the minority vote. With TPS, he can do that without hurting Plan Colombia.” She adds, “I think his ego is bigger than anything. So I have a good feeling about this one.”

Issue Date: July 5 - 12, 2001