Temporary protections for about 200,000 Salvadoran immigrants are in limbo as deadline nears

MIAMI (AP) — Temporary legal protections for about 200,000 immigrants from El Salvador was in limbo Wednesday as a deadline neared for the Trump administration to decide if they should end, as it has done for hundreds of thousands from Venezuela, Haiti and other countries. The Temporary Protected Status designation expires Wednesday but the statute does not give a specific time for when that happens. If the Department of Homeland Security takes no action, protections are automatically extended for six months.

This rare reprieve happened in May, when the protections were automatically extended to about 11,000 Lebanese, allowing them to stay and work in the U.S. About 200,000 people from El Salvador have lived in the U.S. since 2001 under TPS, which allows people already in the country to remain with work permits for renewable periods of up to 18 months, if the secretary of homeland security determines conditions are unsafe for return.

They are eligible for work permits. The administration has ended protections for more than a dozen countries During President Donald Trump’s second term, Homeland Security has ended TPS for more than 1 million people from 14 countries, including El Salvador, Venezuela, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Afghanistan and Syria. Only about 103,000 from three countries remain protected with termination dates in October for Ukraine and Sudan, and November for Lebanon.

The Trump administration obtained a major victory when the Supreme Court ruled in June that Homeland Security acted within its authority by ending TPS for about 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians. The impact of the decision extends far beyond Haitians and Syrians, potentially affecting nearly 1.3 million people from 17 countries on TPS. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for information from The Associated Press.

Tom Homan, Trump’s “border czar” who has advocated for ending TPS, said Tuesday that the decision rests with the Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. “If it expires, it’s up to the secretary,” Homan said when asked about TPS. “Temporary protected status means temporary.

Let’s face it, El Salvador is a much safer country than it’s ever been now with a new president up there.” Congress created temporary protections in 1990 TPS was created by Congress in 1990 to prevent deportations to countries suffering from natural disasters o… for another 180 days.About 200,000 people from El Salvador have lived in the U.S. They are eligible for work permits.The administration has ended protections for more than a dozen countriesDuring President Donald Trump’s second term, Homeland Security has ended TPS for more than 1 million people from 14 countries, including El Salvador, Venezuela, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Afghanistan and Syria.