U.S. extends immigration status for Salvadorans

More than 200,000 El Salvador citizens living in the United States will not be deported for at least a year. The Trump administration announced Monday that it would extend their temporary protected status (TPS). Salvadoran Foreign Minister Alexandra Hill said the extension gives immigrants with TPS “breathing room” to find a permanent solution toward residency or citizenship.

Why do they need protected status? TPS offers temporary refuge to foreign nationals from countries facing wars or severe natural disasters. The United States granted the status to Salvadorans after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck the country in 2001, killing about 1,100 people. Another 1.3 million lost their homes. In 2018, the Trump administration announced the end of TPS for people from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Sudan, but a U.S. District Court blocked the move. The administration is still fighting in court to end TPS, but it has agreed to extend it for Salvadorans at least until Jan. 4, 2021, and for one year after the court case is resolved.

Dig deeper: Read Onize Ohikere’s report in The Sift explaining the judge’s decision to stop the administration from ending TPS.