Salvadorians’ revoked legal status

On Monday, January 8, the Trump administration announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) permits for more than 250,000 Salvadorians within 18 months. Those who currently live and work in the United States now have until September 9, 2019 to find another way to stay in the country or to make arrangements to move. TPS is a program created by the U.S. in 1990 meant to authorize immigrants from countries affected by violence, natural disasters, or disease to live and work legally in the country. The status has been granted to El Salvador several times over the last twenty years, most notably when two earthquakes devastated the country in 2001. Since then, according to the Center for Migration Studies, these Salvadoreans have become one of the best integrated groups of immigrants to America: they represent more than 135,000 households, 85 per cent can speak some English, 88 per cent are part of the labour force, and 10 per cent are married to U.S. citizens. Further affected by the termination are nearly 200,000 children born in the U.S. to Salvadorians with TPS. Families will be broken up as parents who have been stripped of their TPS will not be automatically allowed to stay with their children, who have U.S. citizenship. The Department of Homeland Security stated in its official report that “the substantial disruption of living conditions caused by the earthquake no longer exists.” Nevertheless, the report ignores the fact that El Salvador is currently one of the most dangerous countries in the world largely due to gang violence: in 2015, the country had 109 homicides per 100,000 people, a number 22 times higher than the United States. The Salvadorian government has been lobbying the U.S. to extend protections, but the Trump administration seems adamant as it also looks to determine the fate of TPS for Honduras and other countries currently supported by the status.