Quito, Ecuador He asked USA that approves the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for compatriots living in that country, arguing that it is in the middle of an internal fight against organized crime gangs, Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld reported this Wednesday.
This temporary protection system would allow Ecuadorians with non-regularized stay in the United States They can access social security, formal jobs, receive adequate remuneration and avoid deportation processes.
The authorities estimate that 2.4 million Ecuadorians live abroad and that at least one million of them are in the United States and annually send remittances for nearly 6 billion dollars.
In statements to a group of journalists, Sommerfeld asserted that the request was sent to Homeland Security, part of the US State Department that processes these requests. “The request has been formally sent today and we hope it can be processed in the coming days,” said the person in charge of Ecuadorian diplomacy.
He clarified that the management is done from Ecuador, but that the decision is made by the United States. It is “important to speak clearly and transparently… Expectations must be moderate because it does not depend solely on Ecuador.”
No details were given about when it would apply, in case the United States agrees to the request, nor if Ecuadorians who are already in that country or those who arrive in the future would benefit.
William Murillo, president of the organization 1800 Migrante, in the United States, said that the request for temporary protection made by Ecuador It is a political and not a legal issue and that the American president, Joe Biden, “although he has the possibility of deciding, in practice it is complicated because we are in an election year.”
He added that in 2021, some 97,000 Ecuadorians who entered irregularly were detained and expelled from the United States. In 2022 the figure dropped to 25,000 because Mexico and Guatemala began to request a visa, but in 2023 the figure rose to 117,000. He assured that “these figures hide that at least another 250,000 who also arrived through irregular routes still remain on US soil.”
The announcement occurs when A high-level United States mission is in Quito, chaired by Christopher Dodd, President Biden’s special envoy for the Americas. Apart from addressing security cooperation issues, issues of trade, development and production were also discussed.
Since the beginning of 2021, organized crime gangs linked to drug trafficking have unleashed a wave of insecurity with violent deaths, extortions, kidnappings and repeated riots in prisons that reached another level last week when a group of hooded men took over a television channel with weapons. and explosives, an unprecedented assault that was broadcast live.
Days before, Adolfo Macías, alias “Fito”, the dangerous leader of the largest criminal organization in the country, vanished from a Guayaquil prison. The Choneros. Then another regional leader of another gang fled, Fabricio Pico, who has not been located.
Given this, the President Daniel Noboa decreed a state of internal armed conflict since January 9, which allows joint action by the military and police in prisons, taken over by criminal gangs, and in the streets.
To neutralize the bad image produced by this condition of generalized violence in the country, Sommerfeld asserted that Ecuador is carrying out a campaign to request support from different global leaders to visit or promote investment in Ecuador.
“We have received support from all countries,” he said and specified that international aid in equipment began to arrive this week from the United States.
Other countries have also expressed their decision to support, the last of them, Brazil, especially in training tactical teams to combat organized crime.
Source: With information from AP
