Skip to main content
Media advisory

Press Event: Utah Families to Speak Out as U.S. Supreme Court Case Threatens Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Immigrant Families, Risks Separating Families

April 13, 2026
Immigration

Magen Eissenstat, 202/371-1996

**Media Advisory for Friday, April 17, 12pm MT**

Separating families. Stripping legal protections from longtime residents. Creating fear, instability, and potential detention for immigrant parents and children. Undermining the health, safety, and economic security of entire communities. That’s what will be at stake when the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments later this month on the Trump administration’s attempts to end TPS protections for hundreds of thousands of Haitian and Syrian residents in the United States. This ruling in that case will not only determine the fate of Haitian and Syrian TPS holders whose cases are being heard, but could also reshape the TPS program nationwide—impacting 1.3 million people and their families.

On Friday, April 17 at 12 PM MT, Utah parents, advocates, and community leaders will gather at the Utah State Capitol to speak out against escalating attacks on Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and the devastating impact of family separation policies.

  • WHAT: Press event on TPS and the impact of family separation in Utah

  • WHEN: Friday, April 17, at 12 PM MT

  • WHERE: Utah State Capitol (Rotunda)

  • WHO:

    • Utah Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla
    • Utah House Minority Leader Angela Romero
    • Linda Stone, Senior Director, MomsRising
    • Mayra Molina, Alianza Venezolana en Utah
    • Gladys Rodríguez, Comunidad Salvadoreña de Utah
    • Katie Gradick, Pediatrician
    • Pastor Brigitte Weier, St. Matthew Lutheran Church
    • Emma Metos, Teacher, Salt Lake City School District

This urgent press event—organized by MomsRising, The National TPS Alliance, Haitian Bridge Alliance, and FWD.us —comes just weeks before the U.S. Supreme Court begins considering not only the future of Haitian and Syrian TPS holders, but the integrity of the TPS program itself. The Trump administration has moved to terminate all TPS designations up for renewal, regardless of conditions in impacted countries, and is now asking SCOTUS to make these decisions virtually unreviewable. This unprecedented power grab could harm millions, stripping legal status from families, increasing the risk of detention and deportation, and destabilizing communities in Utah and across the nation.

Speakers will address how these actions are part of a broader effort to dismantle legal pathways for immigrants, threatening children’s wellbeing, disrupting education, and placing enormous strain on families and local economies.

Spanish speakers will be available for interviews at the event. 

# # # #

MomsRising.org is an on-the-ground and online grassroots organization of more than a million people who are working to increase family economic security, stop discrimination against women and moms, and build a nation where businesses and families can thrive. Established in 2006, MomsRising and its members are organizing and speaking out to improve public policy and to change the national dialogue on issues that are critically important to America’s families, including criminal justice reform, immigration policy reform, and gun safety. MomsRising is working for paid family and medical leave, affordable, high quality childcare and early learning, and for an end to the wage and hiring discrimination which penalizes women — particularly moms and women of color — and so many others. MomsRising advocates for access to healthy food for all kids, health care for all, earned sick days, and breastfeeding rights so that all children can have a healthy start. MomsRising maintains a Spanish language website: www.MamásConPoder.org. Sign up online at www.MomsRising.org — and follow us on our blog, and on Twitter and Facebook.