Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) released the following statement announcing her guest to the State of the Union, Flor de Maria Campos, who is a Temporary Protected Status (TPS) recipient from El Salvador. Ms. Campos lives and works with her husband, also a TPS recipient, in Las Vegas with their two U.S. citizen daughters.
“Flor has built a life and a home for herself and her family in Las Vegas for nearly two decades. She and her husband Jose, who is also a TPS recipient, have two lovely daughters who were born here in the United States. They have worked very hard to provide for their family and found success in Las Vegas’s booming restaurant industry. Despite being contributing members of our local community, Flor and Jose are now at risk of deportation and having their family torn apart by President Trump’s heartless decision to revoke TPS from hundreds of thousands of immigrants. I am honored to bring Flor to Tuesday’s State of the Union address to represent the immigrant community who have been unjustly targeted by the Trump Administration. President Trump must see the faces and know the stories of those who could lose everything because of his inhumanity.”
BACKGROUND:
Flor de Maria Campos arrived in the United States from El Salvador at the end of 2000. Along with her husband Jose Alvarado who is also a TPS recipient, Flor worked in the restaurant industry until they saved enough money to start their own restaurant. Their first business venture failed, but Flor and Jose have worked harder since to open two restaurants of their own in Las Vegas. On top of managing their restaurants, Jose also works as a chef for a renowned restaurant on the Las Vegas Strip. Flor and Jose have two children who are both U.S. citizens.
On January 8, 2018, the Department of Homeland Security announced it was eliminating the TPS designation for approximately 200,000 residents from El Salvador. Senator Cortez Masto cosponsored the Safe Environment from Countries Under Repression and in Emergency (SECURE) Act, which would create an avenue towards permanent residency for qualified TPS recipients. The SECURE Act would ensure that hardworking, law-abiding TPS recipients have the opportunity to remain in the U.S. without the risk of having their lives destroyed by the revocation of their TPS protection.
###