The Trump administration has already announced that it would terminate TPS for immigrants from other countries such as Nicaragua, Haiti and Sudan. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo Trump to end protected status for Salvadorans

The Trump administration announced Monday that it will end temporary immigration status that was first granted to Salvadorans after a series of earthquakes nearly two decades ago.

The Homeland Security Department confirmed a story that POLITICO reported early Monday that DHS will terminate, by Sept. 9, 2019, Temporary Protected Status for immigrants from El Salvador.


The decision could complicate already-tense negotiations on Capitol Hill over a possible solution for so-called Dreamers, undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children, as a bipartisan group of senators working on a possible Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals deal weighs a possible legislative fix for former TPS recipients.

The senators have discussed potentially curbing the diversity visa lottery — which President Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed to abolish — in exchange for extending TPS protections, according to two people familiar with the ongoing talks.

In an interview in late December, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) said negotiators discussed potential “trade-offs” between the two programs.

“You get rid of diversity visas and in its place, kind of an exchange for that — because most Democrats don’t want to get rid of diversity visas — that we would do something with TPS, more lenient treatment of some populations under that,” Flake said at the time.

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The administration previously ended TPS designations for several other countries, but the decision concerning Salvadorans — by far the largest group to benefit from the status — could force lawmakers to grapple with the program, which allows foreigners to remain in the United States if their home country experiences a natural disaster, armed conflict or other extraordinary event while they're here. The designation is meant to be temporary, but the status had been renewed repeatedly under Republican and Democratic administrations.

Roughly 263,000 people from El Salvador are covered by the program, which allowed the immigrants to stay and work in the United States legally. Salvadorans represent approximately 60 percent of TPS recipients, according to data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

A senior administration official said Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen “undertook an extensive outreach campaign” to U.S. and Salvadoran officials to understand the conditions on the ground. Nielsen concluded the problems that led to the country’s original designation for the program — which followed a series of earthquakes in 2001 — no longer exist, according to the official.

The administration official said that El Salvador had repaired schools, hospitals and roads damaged by the earthquakes and that the country’s economy “has been steadily improving.”

Still, economic data indicate the country could suffer from the loss of money sent home by TPS enrollees. Remittances from abroad constitute roughly one-fifth of El Salvador’s gross domestic product, according to data from the World Bank.

The delay will give TPS-enrolled Salvadorans a window to apply for a different type of protection for undocumented immigrants, or to make arrangements to depart the country, according to DHS. But opponents of the move argue it will expose a large group of people to deportation.

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) said the move demonstrates that the administration is “driven by nativist impulses” and could force law-abiding immigrants into the shadows. “Likewise, tens of thousands of American children will also be terribly harmed by this decision as it seeks to strip them from their parents,” Menendez said.

A report last year by the Center for Migration Studies estimated that Salvadoran TPS recipients had roughly 193,000 U.S.-born children. For children with parents who lack a legal means to remain in the U.S., the termination could mean living without a parent or expatriation.

The Trump administration’s decision infuriated not just congressional Democrats, but also some Republicans who had repeatedly stressed that the protected immigrants could not safely return to their home country.

“These innocent people fled their home country after a disastrous earthquake, and while living conditions may have slightly improved, El Salvador now faces a significant problem with drug trafficking, gangs and crime,” said Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.). “It would be devastating to send them home after they have created a humble living for themselves and their families.”

The Trump administration has already announced that it would terminate TPS for immigrants from other countries, such as Nicaragua, Haiti and Sudan.

The designation for Honduras was automatically renewed for six months in November when then-acting Secretary Elaine Duke declined to make a decision before a statutory deadline. DHS will reconsider the enrollment of Honduras in early May.