Washington, DC – Tomorrow, Temporary Protected Status for El Salvador is expected to end, stripping legal status and work authorization from more than 170,000 Salvadorans who have lived and worked in this country since the designation began in 2001, the longest running TPS designation in U.S. history. The termination follows the Supreme Court’s June 25 ruling in Mullin v. Doe, which cleared the way for the administration to proceed. Nearly 90 percent of Salvadoran TPS holders work, contributing more than $5 billion to the U.S. economy every year, and roughly 150,000 U.S. citizen children have a parent with Salvadoran TPS.
El Salvador is only the latest domino to fall in the largest delegalization effort in modern history. Haiti’s TPS ended on August 5, stripping status from 350,000 people, and the human cost is already being felt. Wright State freshman Pierre Damas Bel became hopeless and died by suicide on August 31 in Springfield, Ohio, after ICE fitted him with an ankle monitor, a death his family and community advocates attribute directly to Trump, Miller, and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
A recent AP-NORC poll found 58 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of immigration, with nearly half saying he has gone too far in deporting immigrants who are already living in the country.
Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice, issued the following statement:
“Salvadorans have made significant contributions to our communities. They are our neighbors, coworkers, and friends. Tomorrow, hundreds of thousands of them are in danger of becoming the latest target to feed this administration’s deportation machine. Trump and Miller are intent on delegalizing as many people as possible and sowing chaos and fear across our country. Every week brings stories of lives upended, jobs lost, families separated, and an administration that refuses to change course. Poll after poll shows the American people reject the mass deportation agenda. Congress needs to step up and hold this administration accountable.”
