José E. Serrano: “Mr. Chairman, this may go down as the meanest and most misguided amendment of the evening. TPS has been known and worked…”

“Mr. Chairman, this may go down as the meanest and most misguided amendment of the evening. TPS has been known and worked as a proper legal statement by the U.S. government to give protection to people who are in situations where they cannot go back home. These people did not come into the country illegally. In fact, in many cases, our actions being involved in those countries invited them to come here, and this is why we offer that protection. The countries that would be affected are countries where we either have had a standing tradition of being involved in trying to resolve some difficulties in those countries and participated militarily and otherwise in those countries and, as a result, gave them this protection. And secondly, there are also a set of countries which are going through very difficult situations. I'm thinking, as I hear the gentleman speak, if Mr. Frank Wolf was here now he would be up on our side talking to you about the Sudan and talking to you about other places where we should continue to give the temporary protection status. But here's the main point which I've already mentioned and needs to be mentioned again. This is a situation where these folks should not be looked at as people who are here illegally. They're here legally. They're here because this Congress, this administration and other administrations, have seen fit to give them this protection. They're here because they can't go back home.”