Some Minnesota employers decry end to temporary deportation reprieve programs
At the time, Portillo and three relatives working at
"Santi, I want to adopt you -- you and your crew," Larson told Portillo.
Employers in
The announcement that the government would wind down Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for Salvadorans over an 18-month span came Monday, followed days later by a report that Trump disparaged countries covered by the program in a meeting with lawmakers. The administration has also said it would end TPS for
TPS critics welcome the moves, saying these programs have continued long after natural disasters struck or civil strife ended, shielding many who came to
"TPS was not created to provide low-wage workers to employers," said
Portillo started working for Larson almost six years ago. At 16, he'd crossed into
Larson has come to see Portillo as a key player on his team of about 30 full-time workers. He holds a commercial driver's license, drives a dump truck and specializes in laying sod. Such positions are tough to fill, Larson said. Last summer, he hired a driver about to turn 70, his only applicant for a vacancy he advertised widely.
"Our younger generation all want to be button-pushers and video game programmers," he said.
Portillo first told Larson that he, two uncles and another relative working at the company were worried about what the Trump administration might do early last year.
"Don't worry," Larson said. "He'll only take out the bad guys. You're good guys. You'll get to stay."
Later, Larson started worrying too.
TPS supporters argue that beneficiaries have put down roots and earned a shot at staying permanently rather than being returned to troubled homelands. Critics say the administration is restoring the program to the short-lived reprieves they say it was designed to provide.
Several congressional proposals seek to grant TPS recipients a path to citizenship.
The
In
"We do have a lot of providers who have a very international flavor when it comes to their workforce," she said.
Mehlman of FAIR says some employers are facing a problem of their own creation: They have come to rely on pliable immigrant labor, workers with little leverage to reject low wages and poor working conditions. Now employers say they need these workers because Americans are unwilling to accept the same terms.
"The attitude now is, 'I don't have the exact workers at the exact wage I want to pay, so the government owes me a source of imported labor,' " he said.
Mehlman said genuine shortages of workers with certain skills do exist -- but that's an argument for a shift to the merit-based immigration system Trump has championed, which will better match immigrants the
Putting down roots
To Larson, Portillo's boss, there is no doubt the loss of his Salvadoran workers would hurt his business. He said he also made the decision to sponsor them because he feels for them. Portillo owns a home in
Immigration attorney
Most TPS recipients cannot count on an employer in their search for other options to stay legally, Thal said. He has a client whose adult
"
In a sense, Larson and Portillo said, Monday's announcement about the end of TPS for
[email protected] 612-673-4781
___
(c)2018 the Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
Visit the Star Tribune (Minneapolis) at www.startribune.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Wentzville Obamacare processing center to close, affecting 850
Congress puts caregiving on the national agenda
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News