Washington Extends TPS for Salvadorans

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Washington Extends TPS for Salvadorans

Hundreds of thousands of Salvadoran nationals living in the United States for more than a decade won't have to return home for at least another year, as the Trump administration is extending their Temporary Protected Status, the U.S. ambassador to San Salvador announced Monday morning alongside the Central American country's president.

In a video featuring both men tweeted by the account of El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele, U.S. ambassador to El Salvador Ronald Johnson said in Spanish: "Today in Washington, we signed an agreement which extends TPS for the Salvadorans in the United States for another year ... this is an acknowledgement of the achievements and the good work of Nayib Bukele's government."

Decían que era imposible. Que el Gobierno Salvadoreño no podía hacer nada. Pero nosotros sabíamos que nuestros aliados no nos dejarían solos.

No quisimos compartirlo antes porque podíamos entorpecer las conversaciones.

Pero después de todo, gracias a Dios, el TPS se logró. pic.twitter.com/xKF77r13cS

— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) October 28, 2019

President Bukele hailed the accord, saying it will give his countrymen in the United States "extra time to look for a permanent solution." He promised to "keep working side by side [with the United States] to build a more prosperous El Salvador that is better for everyone."

TPS is a status accorded to nationals of some counties experiencing extreme hardship, such as armed conflict or natural disaster. El Salvador came under the program in March 2001 after a series of earthquakes rocked the country. TPS allows many Salvadorans to live and work legally in America, but it does not provide a pathway to citizenship for the roughly 200,000 people covered by it.

The Trump administration has announced an end of TPS for several countries, including El Salvador in early 2018. Lawsuits and court orders have delayed implementation, however, which had been slated for September of this year.

"They said it was impossible [to extend TPS]. That the Salvadoran government couldn't do anything. But we knew our allies wouldn't abandon us," Bukele tweeted. "We didn't want to share [the news] earlier because it could have hindered talks. But after all, thank God, TPS was achieved."

The new end date was not specified in Monday's video. Requests by VOA to the U.S. State Department and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for details of the agreement were not immediately returned.

Along with Guatemala and Honduras, El Salvador's officials participated in months of discussions with Washington about migration and security, leading to several bilateral asylum agreements, as the Trump administration attempts to curb the number of migrants arriving from — or passing  through — Northern Triangle countries en route to the southwest U.S. border.

October 29, 2019 at 03:36AM