Minnesota migrant advocacy group pushes for special status for Ecuadorian migrants

Minneapolis nonprofit organization COPAL, or Communities Organizing Latine Power and Action, is urging state leaders to support temporary immigration relief for Ecuadorians.

Temporary Protected Status allows people fleeing violence, political unrest and instability temporary protection from deportation and immediate work permits. There are 16 countries that currently have a TPS designation.

The Minneapolis nonprofit organization COPAL, or Communities Organizing Latine Power and Action, is asking for special status for Ecuadorian migrants.

At a press conference Wednesday, COPAL executive director Francisco Segovia said TPS would allow Ecuadorians fleeing their home country to find jobs and not depend on government funds.

“As we see people come in, obviously, schools, jobs, food, shelter, those are some of the things that normally anyone will ask for. And then the challenge that people encounter is I want work, but I don’t have a work permit,” Segovia said.

He added TPS status is especially necessary for migrants from the coastal region of Ecuador. “There are five or six provinces on the Pacific Ocean where drug trafficking violence is very high and the murder rate is one of the highest in South America. The Andean region of Ecuador remains safe but the poor population there suffers from lack of employment opportunities.”

During Wednesday’s press conference, legislative aid in St. Paul’s Fifth Ward Abdihamid Badri, said on May 8 the St. Paul City Council will be taking up a resolution urging the Department of Homeland Security to grant Ecuador TPS, which would apply to Ecuadorian migrants in all U.S. states.

“We know that once people get here, that life doesn’t stop. They still need to be able to feed themselves and their families. To be able to get work and find stable housing. And that’s difficult to do with the threat of deportation looming over your head,” Badri said.

Minneapolis City Councilmember Jason Chavez said the council is also working to push a policy resolution urging the Department of Homeland Security to grant TPS for Ecuadorians.

“As the son of Mexican immigrants, proud Latino in general, the only Latino on the city council, this is something that is deeply important to our community and myself,” Chavez said.

COPAL organizers said there is an increasing number of Ecuadorians immigrating to Minnesota.

In the last five years, the number of asylum cases originating from Ecuador in Minnesota’s immigration court has increased by 900 percent, from 192 cases in 2019 to 1,920 cases in 2024, according to data gathered by Syracuse University researchers.