The US has threatened to deport tens of thousands of Salvadorans if they fail to leave the country by 2019. Democratic lawmakers have criticized the move, saying the president is "governing by fear and intimidation."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M.Cavanaugh
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The White House on Monday announced its decision to end "temporary protected status" (TPS) for roughly 200,000 people from El Salvador, threatening deportation for thousands of families if Congress fails to protect their status through legislation.
US Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said the measures aimed at protecting Salvadoran families displaced by major earthquakes at the turn of the century could no longer be extended since the "original conditions caused by the 2001 earthquakes no longer exist."
"Only Congress can legislate a permanent solution addressing the lack of an enduring lawful immigration status of those currently protected by TPS who have lived and worked in the United States for many years," the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
With the White House's decision, Salvadorans protected under TPS will have until September 9, 2019 to leave the country, with more than 135,000 households in California or Texas in jeopardy, according to the Center for Migration Studies. TPS protections have also been terminated for 59,000 Haitians and 5,300 Nicaraguans.
US President Donald Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, extended protections for Salvadorans, Nicaraguans and Haitians in the countryImage: picture-alliance/dpa/R.Escobar
'Fear and intimidation'
Democratic lawmakers have criticized the move, saying El Salvador remains one of the world's deadliest places to live. Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto targeted US President Donald Trump's apparent anti-immigrant stance in a critical statement on the policy decision.
"Today's decision is a poignant reminder that we have an anti-immigrant president who turns his back on hardworking families and insists on governing by fear and intimidation," said Masto said.
"Revoking TPS for Salvadorans will not only tear families apart, deportation could expose thousands of them to potentially dangerous and life-threatening situations."
El Salvador has one of the highest homicide rates in the world, clocking in 116 deaths per 100,000 people in 2015, according to UN figures. The violence is largely due to organized criminal networks and notorious gangs operating in the country.
Central American immigrants turn to Mexico
Most migrants to the United States from the so-called "Northern Triangle" of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador are staying in Mexico for now — because of Donald Trump's new immigration policies.
Image: Reuters/C. Jasso
No longer first choice
In a migrant shelter in the southern Mexican city of Tenosique, near the Guatemalan border, a refugee from Honduras says he originally planned to move to the United States with his family. Trump's election has changed everything. "I wanted to go to the United States with my family, but we've seen that the new government there has made things harder."
Image: Reuters/C. Jasso
Lingering in Mexico
Concepcion Bautista from Guatemala cradles her newborn son in the same migrant shelter. She says she plans to head for the United States, but will linger in Mexico to see how US President Donald Trump's immigration policies play out. Her goal is to reunite with her family up north...
Image: Reuters/C. Jasso
A mere transit country?
…but for the time being, she believes applying for asylum in Mexico is a smarter move. Mexican asylum data and testimony from migrants in Tenosique suggest that although fewer Central Americans are trying to enter the US, plenty are still fleeing their poor, violent home countries, with many deciding to stay longer in Mexico, which has traditionally been a transit country.
Image: Reuters/C. Jasso
Tough immigration policies
The Trump administration has pointed out a sharp decline in immigrant detentions in the first few months of this year as a vindication for the president's tough immigration policies. The measures are already having another effect. In California, where farmers usually rely on workers from Mexico to bring in the harvest, many Mexicans are staying away, preferring to find work in their own country.
Image: Reuters/C. Jasso
Asylum applications on the rise
Migrants from Central America play football in the migrant shelter in Tenosique. The number of people applying for asylum in Mexico has soared by more than 150 percent since Trump was elected president. These days, Mexican immigrants would rather set up in Canada than the United States.
Image: Reuters/C. Jasso
Human smugglers up the price
One man from Guatemala says the prices charged by people smugglers have risen sharply since Trump took office, now hovering around $10,000 (9,100 euros), up from about $6,000 a few years ago. Migrants sit below a mural in Mexico with the words: "Our demand is minimal: justice."
Image: Reuters/C. Jasso
A new home
With Mexico's immigration authorities controlling migration more assiduously, Central Americans were forced to take more isolated, dangerous routes where the chances of being mugged were higher. "We've gone north several times, but every time it's got harder," says one man, who was deported from the United States in December. "Now, it's better if we travel alone, along new routes."
