Today, Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rob Menendez, and Adriano Espaillat led 24 members of Congress in sending a letter to the Biden administration.

Asking them to grant Ecuadorians a Temporary Protected Status Designation.

Ecuador has seen a sharp rise in violence for the last couple of years, with violent deaths nearly doubling between 2022 and 2023. President Daniel Noboa declared the country to be in an “internal armed conflict.” Armed groups continue to threaten the press, medical institutions, community leaders, and the public at large. “While the Biden Administration has offered assistance to the Ecuadorian Government, this does not address the more than 450,000 Ecuadorian immigrants living in the United States. In addition, Ecuador has been the second-highest source country for asylum seekers in New York City since 2022,” wrote the lawmakers.

“Despite the well-documented insecurity that drove these constituents to make the perilous journey through the Darién Gap, many of them are in removal proceedings and face imminent deportation. A TPS designation would allow many in our Ecuadorian community to breathe a sigh of relief by keeping families together and making them eligible for work authorization to support themselves. We must protect our Ecuadorian constituents from deportation to a conflict zone,” they continued.