--- Letter Sent to President Bush Regarding the TPS and Hurricane Stan ---
October 15, 2005
Mr. George W. Bush
President of the United States of America
Washington D.C.
Dear President Bush:
We, Guatemalans and friends of Guatemala in the United States, address ourselves to you in order to ask you to positively respond to the request for solidarity made by the Guatemalan Government on behalf of the Guatemalan people. This request is being made after the terrible impact of hurricane Stan and sustained torrential rains, which have ravaged regions of Central America and Mexico during the past days. Specifically, we ask that TPS be granted to Guatemalans working in the United States.
While expressing our gratitude for the material and economic support your Government has already provided to Guatemala, we take this opportunity to stress the fact that, taking into account the magnitude of the tragedy, more resources will be urgently needed, particularly for assisting all people affected --a total of 3.5 million persons in the rural areas and close to 200,000 displaced persons. We also need to initiate the slow and painful process of recovering from the tragedy, which includes searching for the bodies of people who died and for missing people (more than 1,000 all together), as well as taking care of the thousands of displaced persons, some of them in temporary shelters. We clearly understand that today Guatemala is not alone in suffering great hardships because of natural disasters. Large parts of Central America and Mexico were also affected, and we know of larger calamities that have taken place this year, such as the impact of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in southern U.S. and the recent devastating earthquake in Pakistan. However, taking into account the extremely difficult conditions of our brothers and sisters in Guatemala, we call on your country for assistance.
The most concrete way of supporting Guatemala, in addition to the emergency relief aid as a real priority, is protecting undocumented Guatemalans who are working very hard in the United States with the purpose of aiding their families. They bear the grave responsibility of maintaining assistance to their relatives in these moments of grief, as well as helping the reconstruction process. For this reason, and considering the precedent of the favorable decision of the United States Government to grant “temporary protective status” (TPS) to citizens of El Salvador and Honduras after national tragedies in both countries during the 1990’s, we request that you authorize expanding the TPS to Guatemalans and instruct the Secretary for Homeland Security to immediately prepare the necessary conditions for its implementation. This would be the best possible aid to the Guatemalan people in the months to come, and a real gesture of solidarity and compassion.
We understand that an official request has already been made by President Oscar Berger and his Government, as well as by sectors of civil society in Guatemala. In the forthcoming weeks we will be seeking the support of thousands of people in the United States and in other countries. We hope that you will give the most positive response to this appeal.
Sincerely,
NAME AND SIGNATURES OF GUATEMALANS AND FRIENDS OF GUATEMALA:
...
Mr. George W. Bush
President of the United States of America
Washington D.C.
Dear President Bush:
We, Guatemalans and friends of Guatemala in the United States, address ourselves to you in order to ask you to positively respond to the request for solidarity made by the Guatemalan Government on behalf of the Guatemalan people. This request is being made after the terrible impact of hurricane Stan and sustained torrential rains, which have ravaged regions of Central America and Mexico during the past days. Specifically, we ask that TPS be granted to Guatemalans working in the United States.
While expressing our gratitude for the material and economic support your Government has already provided to Guatemala, we take this opportunity to stress the fact that, taking into account the magnitude of the tragedy, more resources will be urgently needed, particularly for assisting all people affected --a total of 3.5 million persons in the rural areas and close to 200,000 displaced persons. We also need to initiate the slow and painful process of recovering from the tragedy, which includes searching for the bodies of people who died and for missing people (more than 1,000 all together), as well as taking care of the thousands of displaced persons, some of them in temporary shelters. We clearly understand that today Guatemala is not alone in suffering great hardships because of natural disasters. Large parts of Central America and Mexico were also affected, and we know of larger calamities that have taken place this year, such as the impact of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in southern U.S. and the recent devastating earthquake in Pakistan. However, taking into account the extremely difficult conditions of our brothers and sisters in Guatemala, we call on your country for assistance.
The most concrete way of supporting Guatemala, in addition to the emergency relief aid as a real priority, is protecting undocumented Guatemalans who are working very hard in the United States with the purpose of aiding their families. They bear the grave responsibility of maintaining assistance to their relatives in these moments of grief, as well as helping the reconstruction process. For this reason, and considering the precedent of the favorable decision of the United States Government to grant “temporary protective status” (TPS) to citizens of El Salvador and Honduras after national tragedies in both countries during the 1990’s, we request that you authorize expanding the TPS to Guatemalans and instruct the Secretary for Homeland Security to immediately prepare the necessary conditions for its implementation. This would be the best possible aid to the Guatemalan people in the months to come, and a real gesture of solidarity and compassion.
We understand that an official request has already been made by President Oscar Berger and his Government, as well as by sectors of civil society in Guatemala. In the forthcoming weeks we will be seeking the support of thousands of people in the United States and in other countries. We hope that you will give the most positive response to this appeal.
Sincerely,
NAME AND SIGNATURES OF GUATEMALANS AND FRIENDS OF GUATEMALA:
...
posted by Red por la Paz y Desarrollo de Guatemala at 7:20 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home