Letter of Appeal to Secretary of Homeland Security to Grant Filipinos in the U.S. TPS or “temporary protected status” due to Super Typhoon Haiyan
Today, I wrote a letter of appeal to acting Secretary of Homeland Security Rand Beers to designate the Philippines and undocumented or overstays Filipinos in the U.S. Temporary Protected Status due to the effects of Super Typhoon Haiyan. As a matter of background, it is within the discretion of the Secretary of Homeland Security to designate a country whose nationals are here in the U.S. (they would be eligible to get work permits and reprieve from deportation for a specific period of time) who are unable to return safely to their homeland because of the effects of natural disasters of extraordinary proportions such as Super Typhoon Haiyan. Below is a copy of that letter:
November 11, 2013
The Honorable Rand Beers
Acting Secretary of Homeland Security
Washington, D.C. 20528
Re: Appeal to Designate the Philippine for Temporary Protected Status due to natural disasters of extraordinary condition caused by Super Typhoon Haiyan
Dear Secretary Beers:
As you may have seen in the news in the last few days, the central part of the Philippines was devastated by Super Typhoon or Cyclone Haiyan – deemed to be the world’s most powerful storm to hit land at more than 200 miles creating a path of destruction and tremendous loss of life in the islands of Leyte and Samar in the Eastern Visayas region and the islands of Iloilo and Negros in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines (10,000 estimated deaths according to today’s New York Times article).
The New York Times article also cited a United Nations disaster assessment team that visited the area on Saturday and quoted Sebastian Rhodes Stampa, the head of the team in his statement: “The last time I saw something of this scale was in the aftermath of the Indian Ocean tsunami,” referring to the 2004 tsunami that devastated parts of Indonesia and other countries. “This is destruction on a massive scale.”
Super Typhoon Haiyan further devastated the already fragile central part of the Philippines not even a month after the island of Bohol was struck with a major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 on October 14 destroying one of the country’s old churches at the town of Baclayon on Bohol island and causing the deaths of 144 Filipinos.
I am appealing to your office (though I am not sure if one letter writer can be of any influence and as a matter of full disclosure, I am an immigration lawyer in Woodside, Queens, NY – dubbed as the Filipino-town of New York) to look into the effects of this natural disaster of extraordinary proportions which prevents Filipinos from returning safely to their homeland.
With the hope that this appeal would merit your kind consideration, I remain
Very truly yours,
Sid Garbanzos, Esq.
Attorney SID GARBANZOS is a graduate of the City University of New York School of Law and is admitted to practice in New York and Washington, D.C. Practice areas include: Commercial Litigation, Landlord-Tenant, RN & Medical Profession License Defense and Immigration. Please note that this article is written for a gratuitous purpose only and no attorney-client relationship is created in this publication. This article is not, nor intended to be legal advice. The reader should consult with a reputable lawyer based on his or her individual circumstances. Please call Garbanzos Law Firm at (718)725-7324 if you have any questions about this article.
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