WASHINGTON, DC – FWD.us President Todd Schulte issued the following statement on the TPS for Mauritania Act of 2024, a bipartisan bill simultaneously introduced today in the Senate by Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and in the House of Representatives by Representatives Mike Carey (R, OH-15), Joyce Beatty (D, OH-3) and Greg Landsman (D-OH-1). The bicameral legislation seeks to provide a Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation to Mauritania, a much-needed move that would keep thousands of individuals and families in our country safe from race- and ethnicity-based violence, enslavement, and even death if they were to be deported and forced to return to their home country:

“The bipartisan TPS for Mauritania Act marks the critical first step in the legislative process to help thousands of vulnerable Mauritanians currently living with the crippling uncertainty of being uprooted from their communities in the U.S. and forced to return to a place where their lives are in real danger.

“We thank Senator Brown and Representatives Carey, Beatty, and Landsman for their leadership, and for showing there continue to be commonsense, bipartisan solutions for Congress to come together and help alleviate some of our most pressing immigration challenges. We also want to acknowledge the tireless work of the Mauritanian Network for Human Rights in The US, UndocuBlack, Haitian Bridge Alliance, and many other advocates who led the effort to get this legislation introduced while also fighting to safeguard Black immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees facing devastating humanitarian crises in Mauritania and beyond.

“Passing a law to provide protection from deportation and work authorization to Mauritanians living in the U.S. through a designation of TPS will not only save lives, it will empower and support communities across our country. Congress should approve these critical protections without further delay.”

Additional resources from FWD.us: The Case for TPS for Mauritania