COUNTY OF SUFFOLK

OFFICE OF THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE

Steven Bellone
COUNTY EXECUTIVE
The Honorable Peter King
1003 Park Boulevard
Massapequa Park, NY 11762

The Honorable Thomas Suozzi

478A Park Avenue
Huntington, NY 11743

The Honorable Kathleen Rice

229 7th Street, Suite 300
Garden City, NY 11530

The Honorable Lee Zeldin

31 Oak Street, Suite 20
Patchogue, NY 11772

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.
LOCATION: MAILING ADDRESS:
H. LEE DENNISON BUILDING, 12th FLOOR P.O. BOX 6100 OFFICE (631) 853-4000
100 VETERANS MEMORIAL HIGHWAY  HAUPPAUGE, NY 11788-0099  FAX (631) 853-4818
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 LAURA CURRAN
Suffolk County Executive Nassau County Executive

H. LEE DENNISON BUILDING  100 VETERANS MEMORIAL HIGHWAY  P.O. BOX 6100  HAUPPAUGE, N. Y. 11788-0099  (631) 853-4000