Protected status extended 18 months for some Syrians in the US

August 3, 2019 CNA Daily News News Briefs 0 Print

Washington D.C., Aug 3, 2019 / 04:53 am (CNA).- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced August 1 that it is extending Syria’s Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months, although qualified people who have not yet applied for the program will be ineligible to participate.

The decision to extend means that some 7,000 TPS holders from Syria will be able to remain and work in the U.S. through March 31, 2021. After that, the department will determine whether to again renew the designation or end it.

“The decision to extend TPS for Syria was made after a review of the conditions upon which the country’s designation is based, which was ongoing armed conflict and extraordinary and temporary conditions, as well as an assessment of whether those conditions continue to exist as required by statute,” the Department of Homeland Security said.

The department determined that these conditions are still present in the country, and that Syrian nationals returning to their country would face perilous and life-threatening conditions.

Organizations that work with Syrian TPS holders welcomed the decision, while lamenting that new applicants who are currently in the U.S. will not be accepted.

Americans for a Free Syria, the American Relief Coalition for Syria, and the Syrian American Council have formed a coalition to advocate with Congress and DHS officials, as well as build public awareness and support for Syrian TPS holders.

In a statement, the group applauded the TPS extension, but added that “we remain gravely concerned for the Syrians in this country not protected by TPS.”

“If Syria is unsafe for American travelers and current TPS holders, it’s also unsafe for Syrians who came to the United States more recently. We urge the Administration to take a closer look at redesignation until the country is at peace and ready to accept returning Syrians.”

Nada, a Syrian TPS holder working with the coalition, voiced gratitude at the extension. Nada is an art teacher who just completed her master’s degree last year. She is the mother of two teenage children, and the breadwinner for her family.

“As a TPS holder, I can’t tell you how much my family and I are relieved about this decision,” she said in a statement. “It opens new horizons for us and allows us to feel more at peace.”

The U.S. provides “temporary protected status” to some groups of immigrants who are unable to return home due to temporary emergencies in their homeland, including armed conflicts or natural disasters. TPS beneficiaries must pass background checks and cannot be linked to criminal or terrorist groups. Syrian TPS holders must have been in the U.S. since Aug. 1, 2016.

Syria has been included as a TPS country since 2012, following the outbreak of a civil war in the country. More than 500,000 people have been killed in the ongoing violence, and some 5.6 million people have become refuges, with 6.6 million more believed to have been internally displaced by the violence.

While TPS benefits have been extended for 18 months, the Department of Homeland Security declined for the second time to redesignate TPS for the country, meaning that those qualify for TPS but had not yet applied are ineligible for the program’s protections.

DHS first chose to extend TPS benefits for Syria without redesignating last year, after several years of both extending and redesignating.

The coalition of advocacy groups working with Syrian TPS beneficiaries objected to this failure to redesignate, stressing that “[t]he threat to civilians living in Syria and those returning is still very real.”

“The State Department issued a travel advisory in April of this year stating plainly: ‘No part of Syria is safe from violence.’ Until that changes, no Syrian should be forced back to a war zone,” the group said.

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Dia de los Muertos about more than the ‘bread of the dead,’ bishop says

October 30, 2019 CNA Daily News 1

Los Angeles, Calif., Oct 30, 2019 / 04:00 am (CNA).- Dia de los Muertos, or “Day of the Dead,” is a primarily Mexican way of celebrating the feasts of All Souls Day and All Saints Day.

The celebration is an expression of Latin American culture and Catholic beliefs, which makes use of some familiar symbols to teach and celebrate the Church’s teaching on the communion of the saints and the souls in purgatory.

Annual celebrations typically involve skeletal costumes and face makeup, parades and processions, as well as traditional foods such as “pan de muerte” (bread of the dead) and sugar skulls (calaveras).

Los Angeles Auxilary Bishop Alex Aclan, a native of the Philippines, celebrated a Mass in honor of Dia de los Muertos Oct. 26 at Santa Clara Cemetery in Oxnard, California.

The Mass featured pilgrim images of Our Lady of Guadalupe and San Juan Diego, as well as over “ofrendas,” or altars, which are traditionally used in Dia de los Muertos celebrations to honor deceased loved ones.

Aclan told CNA the celebrations at the cemetery were very typical Mexican style, he said, with the altars set out with pictures and personal items for the faithful to remember and honor loved ones.

There were more than 100 ofrendas set up throughout the cemetery, and participants took part in dancing, processions and prayers for the dead.

Dia de los Muertos is sometimes popularly thought of as “Mexican Halloween,” and the ofrendas may be seen as a means for people to conjure up their deceased loved ones.

“That’s a corruption of the original notion of the celebration of the feast,” Aclan said.

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “all forms of divination are to be rejected” which includes the “conjuring up the dead.”

However, the Church encourages Catholics to pray for the dead as one of the spiritual works of mercy.

Aclan he said he made sure that archdiocesan offices are involved in planning celebrations, to make sure that Dia de los Muertos customs are in accord with Catholicism and the Catholic tradition.

The bishop was quick to point out that the real focus of Dia de los Muertos are the two Catholic feast days within it, not primarily Halloween.

In his native Philippines, Aclan said, celebrations around this time primarily take place on Nov. 1, All Saints Day, which is marked as a national holiday in that country.

“I grew up with that tradition of All Saints Day, and I remember us staying in the cemetery praying all day long for the souls, even though we do it on the day of All Saints rather than All Souls,” he said.

In Mexico, the bulk of the celebrations take place from Oct. 31 to All Soul’s Day, Nov. 2, incorporating both of the Catholic feasts.

“All Saints Day of course for those who are already in Heaven, and All Souls Day for those who are still on their way to heaven,” he said.

Aclan said whenever he preaches or speaks about Dia de los Muertos, he tells people it is a beautiful manifestation of the Church’s belief in the communion of saints.

“I think it’s a wonderful way to teach people about our beliefs as Catholics on the communion of saints,” Aclan commented.

“For Mexicans to celebrate Dia de los Muertos, my experience is the remembering of the dead is really the most important part of it. Making sure that the dead are remembered, that their deceased are remembered, and that we really are one with them even though they’re on the other side and we’re still here.”

“And that’s basically our teaching on the communion of saints. The different parts of the Church: the ones in Heaven, the ones that are still on their way trying to find their way to the gates of Heaven, and us here on Earth, and we are still together as one. We are still one Church.”

 

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