A longtime Miami resident is stepping into the national spotlight as she fights to defend her right—and the right of thousands of others—to live and work in the United States.
Maria Elena Hernandez, a 67-year-old custodian and proud member of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 32BJ, is one of seven plaintiffs who filed a federal lawsuit this week challenging the Trump administration’s effort to strip Temporary Protected Status (TPS) from more than 50,000 immigrants from Nepal, Nicaragua, and Honduras. The suit, filed in San Francisco, is backed by the National TPS Alliance and comes on the heels of another legal win involving TPS protections for Haitians.
Hernandez, who has lived in Miami for decades, has had the same job and apartment for years. Like many TPS recipients, she has paid taxes, followed the law, and contributed to the community. Now, she’s risking it all to stop what immigrant rights advocates are calling a cruel and unjustified attack on families who have built their lives in the U.S.
“I have good reason to fear what will happen to me if I return to Nicaragua, so I decided I have to be brave now,” Hernandez said in a press release. “I have had the same job and lived in the same apartment for decades. My union helped me learn to fight for myself and my coworkers. Now, I have to fight for myself and others with TPS. I have always had faith in doing the right thing. I always believed that the government of the United States would honor all my contributions. I am 67 years old. I have paid all my taxes, obeyed all the laws. Why is the government trying to get rid of so many people who have contributed so much to this country?”
TPS is a humanitarian immigration program that allows individuals from disaster-stricken or war-torn countries to live and work in the U.S. legally. When Trump took office, more than a million people from 17 nations were protected under TPS. Since then, the administration has systematically rolled back nearly all those protections—either by letting the designations expire or by terminating them early.
Just last week, SEIU member Gerald Michaud of New York was among those who successfully sued to halt the administration’s early cancellation of TPS for Haitians. But the fight continues. On June 5, TPS was formally ended for Nepal, with Honduras and Nicaragua following shortly after. Those affected were given just 60 days before their protections expire, placing them at risk of losing their jobs or facing deportation—even though many have lived in the U.S. for decades.
“Maria Elena and many others like her have spent decades working hard, quietly paying taxes, following the law, and building up their neighborhoods,” said Helene O’Brien, Vice President of 32BJ SEIU, in a press release. “Ripping long-time TPS holders from their jobs and communities won’t create a single new opportunity for anyone. It will yank skilled, tax paying workers out of classrooms, airports, hospitals, and hotels, drain billions from local economies, and tear families apart. Instead of deporting people who have spent decades keeping our cities running and our businesses open, we should honor their contributions and give them the stability every hardworking American deserves.”
For Miami’s Black and Brown immigrant communities, the threat to TPS is personal and urgent. Local organizers and union leaders are calling on the public to stand in solidarity with those fighting to stay in the only home many of them have ever known.
Hy-Lo News will continue to follow developing stories as these types of lawsuits moves forward and community leaders rally to defend TPS protections.
This is a Hy-Lo News Staff Report.
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