Washington, Apr 21 (EFE).- More than a hundred senators and representatives in the United States Congress today asked the government of President Joe Biden to extend the designation of El Salvador and Honduras for the temporary protection status (TPS) of their immigrants.
The effort was led by Senator Tim Kaine, of Virginia, and Representative Joaquín Castro, of Texas, both Democrats, in a letter in which they noted that there are more than 400,000 people in the US covered by TPS.
This program, started in 1990, authorizes the Executive Branch to designate for limited periods countries where natural disasters, violent conflicts or political persecution have occurred or are occurring, granting immigrants from those nations protection against deportation and a work permit. .
There are currently 16 countries designated for TPS, and in the United States there are more than 251,500 Salvadorans and almost 81,000 Hondurans covered by this temporary protection.
Last November, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced an 18-month extension on the designations for Honduras and El Salvador, along with those for Haiti, Nicaragua, Sudan, and Nepal, which will expire on June 30, 2024.
In their letter, the legislators urged the redesignation of Honduras and El Salvador for TPS, “since it is not safe for the citizens (of those countries) to return at this time due to serious environmental damage caused by hurricanes and catastrophes related to the change climate”.
Other reasons that, according to legislators, make return dangerous are “human rights violations and the constant political crises exacerbated by the covid-19 pandemic.”
“Both El Salvador and Honduras face separate but equally devastating realities that prevent people who fled these countries from returning safely,” said the letter, specifically addressed to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
