El Salvador seeks solution to 200,000 citizens facing deportation in U.S.

Record ID: 945326

  • Title: El Salvador seeks solution to 200,000 citizens facing deportation in U.S.
  • Date: 9th January 2018
  • Summary: SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR (JANUARY 8, 2018) (REUTERS) ****WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** GENERAL VIEW OF SAN SALVADOR PEOPLE ON SIDE OF STREET PEOPLE IN LOCAL PARK GENERAL VIEW OF GOVERNMENT PALACE EXTERIOR OF FOREIGN MINISTRY GENERAL VIEW OF NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SALVADORAN FOREIGN MINISTER, HUGO MARTINEZ, SAYING: "We will work tirelessly, we will
  • Embargoed: 23rd January 2018 04:57
  • Keywords: San Salvador El Salvador deportation expell President Donald Trump migrants undocumented TPS
  • Location: SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR
  • City: SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR
  • Country: El Salvador
  • Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0017X95HDV
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Some 200,000 Salvadoran immigrants allowed to live and work in the United States since 2001 will lose their right to remain in the country in 2019, officials said on Monday (January 8), marking the Trump administration's latest move to tighten immigration enforcement.
    The United States will end the Salvadorans' temporary protected status (TPS) on September 9, 2019, giving them 18 months to leave or seek lawful residency, and for El Salvador to prepare for their return, administration officials said. The status was granted in the wake of two devastating 2001 earthquakes in El Salvador that left hundreds of thousands in the country homeless.
    El Salvador's Foreign Minister Hugo Martinez called for a solution to its citizens left in limbo, saying the country will work with Washington.
    The decision to end TPS for Salvadorans is part of the administration's broader push to tighten immigration laws and expel those living in the United States illegally. The move was heavily criticised by immigrant advocates who said it ignored violence in El Salvador and gave the Salvadorans few options but to leave the United States or remain illegally.
    The Trump administration has faced a series of deadlines over the past year to decide whether to end the protected status of immigrants in the United States whose home countries have been affected by disasters. Salvadorans are by far the largest group under TPS, a program administration officials said is supposed to provide a temporary haven for victims, not a permanent right to remain in the United States.
    Critics have complained TPS has allowed participants to repeatedly extend their stays in 6-month to 18-month increments.
    There are approximately 1.35 million Salvadorans of any status living in the United States, according to U.S. Census Bureau data analysed by the Migration Policy Institute, a non-partisan think tank.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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