Tampa, FL – On September 13, about eight activists with Tampa Immigrants Rights Committee held a sign-waving and tabling event outside a local Salvadoran restaurant in response to Trump’s threats to not renew Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Salvadorans. It came in response to the call from Legalization for All, a network of grassroots groups across the country organized for immigrants’ rights.

The event included a barrio walk in response to ICE presence a few days ago in the neighborhood around Fletcher and Nebraska Avenues. The patrons at Nuestra Tienda, where the lunch rush was underway, were appreciative of Tampa IRC tabling outside, informing them of their rights, and keeping them updated on TPS’s status.

Also appreciative were the community members in the nearby neighborhood near where ICE was spotted, as folks enthusiastically took the know your rights material to defend themselves from ICE attacks, both for themselves and to distribute to their neighbors.

Attacks on and revocation of TPS is not new for the Trump administration. Since returning to power, Trump has revoked TPS for 13 countries, affecting over a million people in the U.S, including for Venezuela, Syria and Haiti.

TPS for Salvadorans remains in effect, as the deadline came and went without the Department of Homeland Security taking any action one way or the other. TPS for Salvadorans was the first TPS designation in 1990, coming after years of grassroots organizing after a civil war in El Salvador. It was renewed in 2001 after two devastating earthquakes made it impossible for people to return there.

The event reached dozens of people, some spoke about local police forces helping in immigration enforcement through the 287(g) agreement, which deputizes local police forces to act as immigration police, and which both Hillsborough Sheriff’s Department and Tampa Police Department have signed on to.

This event comes on the heels of a rally Tampa IRC held in response to the revocation of TPS for Haitians on July 27. Tampa is home to about 14,000 Haitians, and Tampa IRC will continue to educate the community of their rights in light of Trump’s threats to local immigrant communities through barrio walks and tabling.

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