Trump Ends Protections For 200,000 Salvadorans

WASHINGTON, DC — The Trump administration announced it is planning to revoke temporary protective status for about 200,000 Salvadorans who came to the United States after earthquakes devastated their country in 2001. They will have 18 months before they have to leave the country.

California has one the largest population of immigrants living under temporary protected status with about 55,000, followed by Texas and Florida, each with 45,000, according to the Center for Migration studies. Los Angeles alone has an estimated 29,400 Salvadorans currently with these protections, the center said.

Salvadorans' protected status ran up against a deadline Monday, Jan. 8, that forced Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen to decide whether to extend the program. Previous administrations had repeatedly extended the protected status.

"The substantial disruption of living conditions caused by the earthquake" no longer exists, the department said in a statement.

Nielsen's decision, while not surprising, will send shivers through parts of Washington, Los Angeles, New York, Houston and other metropolitan areas that are home to large numbers of Salvadorans. They have enjoyed special protection since earthquakes struck the Central American country in 2001, and many have established deep roots in the U.S., starting families and businesses.

The action also produces a serious challenge for El Salvador, a country of 6.2 million people whose economy counts on money sent by wage earners in the U.S. Over the past decade, growing numbers of Salvadorans — many coming as families or unaccompanied children — have entered the United States illegally through Mexico, fleeing violence and poverty.

“To disregard the contributions that El Salvadorans have made in communities across this country by stamping an expiration date on their lives here is inhumane," said Amanda Baran, consultant to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, an advocacy and educational group. "Salvadoran TPS holders are our colleagues and neighbors, and the economic engines of our construction and service sectors. El Salvador is one of the world’s most dangerous countries and will be unable to absorb the return of these thousands of people whose lives are inextricably intertwined with those of ours here in the United States."

El Salvador is the fourth country whose citizens have lost temporary protected status under Trump, and they have been, by far, the largest beneficiaries of the program, which provides humanitarian relief for foreigners whose countries are hit with natural disasters or other strife.

Homeland Security also said more than 39,000 Salvadorans have returned home from the U.S. in two years, demonstrating El Salvador's capacity to absorb people. It said the 18-month delay would give Congress time to develop a legislative change if it chooses, while also giving Salvadorans and their government time to prepare.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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