FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 8, 2017
CONTACT: media@cwsglobal.org
CWS CONDEMNS HEARTLESS DHS DECISION TO TERMINATE PROTECTIONS FOR SALVADORAN TPS HOLDERS
Washington, DC – CWS today denounced the decision by the Trump administration to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for El Salvador, effective September 9, 2019. The global humanitarian organization further urged the White House to restore and extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for El Salvador, calling for a permanent legislative solution to protect all TPS holders from deportation:
“This decision follows the administration’s recent announcements terminating TPS designations for Haiti, Sudan, and Nicaragua, as well as ending the Central American Minors (CAM) program that protected children fleeing violence in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras and reunited them with a parent in the United States,” said Erol Kekic, Executive Director of the CWS Immigration and Refugee Program. “It comes despite clear and documented evidence of worsening country conditions in El Salvador–including the highest murder rate in the world, and forced gang conscription, sexual violence, and human trafficking. The consequences of this decision will be catastrophic: nearly 200,000 Salvadoran TPS holders have lived and worked lawfully in the United States for nearly 17 years, and approximately 90 percent of children in the CAM program have a TPS holder parent. Ending TPS for El Salvador runs counter to our American values and tears apart families–including the 192,700 U.S. citizen children who have a Salvadoran TPS holder parent. We urge the administration to immediately reinstate El Salvador’s TPS designation and calls on Congress to pass a permanent legislative solution to protect all TPS holders.”
After the initial TPS designation in 2001 due to a devastating earthquake, hurricanes and tropical storms have persisted, exacerbating El Salvador’s barriers to recovery. El Salvador is still reporting food and water insecurity, as well as public health crises with the spread of mosquito-borne illnesses as a result of these conditions. Forcibly returning hundreds of thousands of Salvadorans to a country that is still in crisis will destabilize the region, increase economic insecurity, and further drive displacement.
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Since 1946, Church World Service has supported refugees, immigrants and other displaced individuals, in addition to providing sustainable relief and development solutions to communities that wrestle with hunger and poverty. Learn more about our refugee and immigrant work at GreaterAs1.org.
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