On December 9th, 2019, around 263 thousand Salvadorans will have to leave the U.S. or risk being deported. TPS, temporary protected status, was granted to Salvadorans in March, 2001 after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in January, 2001. Since then, they have built their homes, businesses, and families in America. And now, they have to leave.

Karla Alvarado has lived in the U.S. for 20 years. She went to college, earned her degree, and holds a position as a nurse. Now she faces the reality as a Salvadoran immigrant under temporary protected status.

“It’s definitely heart-wrenching, I’m having anxiety like I’ve never had before. I’ve been here since I was 9; I don’t know anything else. I am American and this is my home,” said Alvarado in Newsela.

The Department of Homeland Security says that “original conditions caused by the 2001 earthquakes no longer exist." But, although the earthquakes might have ended, conditions in El Salvador haven’t gotten better. Sending TPS Salvadorans and their children back to El Salvador would mean sending them back to gang violence, low job employment, and a weak economy.

In fact, gang violence has only increased since 2001. And, according to Newsela and other reports, “El Salvador is one of the most violent countries in the world, measured by its homicide rate.”

TPS also ended for 1,000 Sudanese, 5,300 Nicaraguans, and 58,700 Haitians. Congress is currently discussing whether or not to terminate or extend TPS for five other countries: Syria, Nepal, Honduras, Yemen, and Somalia.

Jill Marie Bussey, director of advocacy for the Catholic Legal Immigration Network says in Newsela, “They’ve explained to us that this administration wants to put the T — temporary — back in TPS.”

Works Cited:

Newsela | Sign In, newsela.com/read/immigration-el-salvador/id/39391/.

Park, Madison. “Protected Status for 250,000 Salvadorans Is Ending. These Immigrants Might Be Next.” CNN, Cable News Network, 10 Jan. 2018, www.cnn.com/2018/01/09/politics/temporary-protected-status-countries/index.html.

Links to Sources

https://newsela.com/read/immigration-el-salvador/id/39391/

http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/09/politics/temporary-protected-status-countries/index.html