Long Island, NY - January 12, 2017 - Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone and Nassau County Executive Laura Curran yesterday sent a letter to Members of Congress Lee Zeldin (NY-1), Peter T. King (NY-2), Thomas R. Suozzi (NY-3), and Kathleen Rice (NY-4) urging them to take immediate legislative action to extend protections for Salvadorans living on Long Island. Earlier this week, the federal Administration announced that it would end provisional residency permits of Salvadorans who have been granted Temporary Protected Status, many having lived in the United States since at least 2001. The County Executives also released an analysis by the Suffolk County Department of Economic Development and Planning that projects a dire economic impact due to this decision. A copy of the letter can be found below.
January 11, 2018
Dear Members of Congress,
We write to you as the Congressional representatives for Long Island to express our concern over the recent decision by the federal Administration to end the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program for those individuals from El Salvador. The decision by the Administration to terminate TPS for over 14,700 Salvadorans on Long Island will place thousands of Long Island families, and our local economy, at risk. We respectfully ask that you take immediate action to address this urgent threat to our region.
The TPS decision could ultimately result in a massive economic hit to Long Island. A recent analysis performed by the Suffolk County Department of Economic Development and Planning shows that the removal of Salvadoran TPS holders on Long Island would result in an $800 million loss in household spending to our region on an annual basis. The analysis also shows a reduction of $1.4 billion in economic output, $395 million in reduced earnings, a potential loss of nearly 13,500 jobs, and an $860 million hit in reduced Gross Domestic Product.
If the broader economic impact was not bad enough, the individual blow to homeowners is even worse. There are nearly 4,000 Salvadoran TPS residents who hold mortgages in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. A conservative assumption of $150,000 per mortgage would result in $594 million in loans that could go unpaid, and result in those homes going up for auction or adding to the “zombie” home challenge we are already combating.
Worst of all, the timing of this decision adds insult to injury. As you know, Congress recently passed a devastating tax bill that eliminates the state and local tax deductions for homeowners on Long Island. Experts agree that this will raise taxes on middle-class families while reducing home property values. Therefore, the decision to allow TPS to sunset for other homeowners will exacerbate the negative impact to the housing market and create a one-two punch that we simply cannot afford.
We urge you to support and champion a legislative solution to keep thousands of Long Island families and taxpayers here. Simply put, it is time for Congress to come together and finally pass comprehensive immigration reform that fixes our broken system, secures our border, and provides a pathway to citizenship for those seeking to live the American Dream.
We urge you to work with your colleagues on both sides of the aisle to advance this priority for the people of Nassau and Suffolk Counties.
Sincerely,
STEVEN BELLONE
Suffolk County Executive
LAURA CURRAN
Nassau County Executive