Summary: The White House plans to remove the Temporary Protected Status for almost a quarter of a million El Salvador nationals living in the United States.
On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security said they will end protections for certain nationals from El Salvador. According to CNN, this could leave more than 250,000 immigrants without any legal status.
The termination will go into effect within 18 months, which will give people time to prepare to leave or find other means to stay. The Trump White House is not only removing protections for El Salvadorians but also people from other countries that were once granted Temporary Protected Status.
“The 18-month delayed termination will allow Congress time to craft a potential legislative solution,” the DHS statement said.
Temporary Protected Status allows nationals from other countries to live and work legally in the United States without fear of deportation. Many of the people granted this status have lived in the United States for almost 15 years and come from countries that have suffered from disaster or war.
“They are Americans in all but their paperwork,” Frank Sharry, executive director of the America’s Voice Education Fund, told The Guardian. “Now, the Trump administration is trying to drive them back to a country engulfed in corruption, violence and weak governance.”
This recent move is in line with Trump’s stance to limit immigration and kick out undocumented immigrants. According to CNN, this administration has pushed strongly to curtail TPS, which they said has stopped being “temporary.”
The Department of Homeland Security said that in El Salvador’s case they looked at the reason for the original designation, which was a 2001 series of earthquakes. DHS said that since then the problems caused by the disaster have been resolved, and it was time to end the immigration protections.
Critics of the move say that El Salvador is a violent country with economic problems, but the DHS said that TPS depends on the original reason for the designation and not the country’s current conditions.
Representative Gerry Connolly, a Democrat from Virginia, told CNN that it is unfair to remove these nationals because they have already made lives here.
“They have resettled, established their families and lives here in the United States. Most of them see themselves much more as American citizens than Salvadoran citizens and to end that protection and program are going to disrupt many communities across the United States,” Connolly said. “It’s inhumane and not consistent with American values.”
Florida Republican Representative Mario Diaz-Balart had a similar sentiment.
“These innocent people fled their home country after a disastrous earthquake, and while living conditions may have slightly improved, El Salvador now faces a significant problem with drug trafficking, gangs and crime,” Diaz-Balart said. “Since 2001, these people have established themselves in the United States, making countless contributions to our society and our local communities. It would be devastating to send them home after they have created a humble living for themselves and their families.”
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