Across the Bronx, a coalition of community groups has come together to defend Temporary Protected Status, the federal designation known as TPS that shields certain immigrants from deportation. Organizers said dozens of Bronx sites were joining the push, part of a wave of growing concern in the borough following a decision from the nation's highest court.
The Supreme Court ruled to allow the Trump administration to end the protections, and advocates say the consequences could be sweeping. According to those rallying, the decision leaves hundreds of thousands of Haitians and Syrians who have been living in the United States under TPS newly exposed to the possibility of detention and deportation.
Among those sounding the alarm was Joy Montague, who works at Montefiore Medical Center and the Citadel nursing home. She said she feared for her colleagues, many of whom are immigrants living in the country under the protected status, and worried that they could suddenly be gone. She described a fear that people would simply disappear, that they might be, in her words, snatched and taken.
Montague did not hold back in her assessment of the policy shift. She called it a cruelty inflicted on a group of people for no reason, and warned that the fallout would reach far beyond the individuals directly affected, touching the institutions and communities that rely on their work every day.
She said the change would hit the health care industry especially hard, a line of work she noted was already struggling with short staffing. Montague warned of burnout and even physical injuries among remaining workers forced to carry too much weight, both physically and emotionally, if large numbers of her colleagues were forced out.
Montague was joined by Congressman Richie Torres and Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, where the group called on Congress and the wider Bronx community to stand behind TPS holders. Advocates urged Democratic members of Congress in particular to take action to support those whose status is now in jeopardy.
For Montague, who became a United States citizen after immigrating from Jamaica, the fight is personal. She said she would keep pressing for the rights of her health care colleagues, asking why hard workers should not be rewarded with a shot at the American dream, and vowing to continue speaking out on their behalf.