Immigrant Advocate CEUS Protests President Trump’s Temporary Protected Status 

Ruling Involving El Salvador

UNION CITY, NJ – January 9, 2017 — Comité En Unión para Salvadoreños (CEUS), a non-profit dedicated to protecting the rights of immigrants, has issued a strong protest to yesterday’s decision announced by Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to terminate Temporary Protected Status for 200,000 El Salvadorian recipients by September 2019.

Temporary Protected Status is extended to citizens of countries where there is an ongoing armed conflict, an environmental disaster, or other extraordinary conditions that endangers their lives. El Salvadorians qualified for TPS due to an earthquake that devastated that Central American country in 2001. In her statement, Secretary Nielsen stated that after a review, she determined that the original conditions caused by the 2001 earthquakes no longer exist. “Thus, under the applicable statute, the current TPS designation must be terminated.”

What does exist is that El Salvador remains a dangerous country as designated by the United States Department of State who has issued several travel warnings, most recently in February 2017. In that report, the Department of State warned of high rates of crime and violence. El Salvador has one of the highest homicide rates in the world. In addition, crimes such as extortion, assaults, and robbery are common. Gang activity is reportedly widespread.

“It is unconscionable to send these vulnerable residents back into the dangerous situations they fled so many years ago,” said Blanca Molina, an El Salvadorian refugee and one of the founders of CEUS. “They have typically been here 20 or more years in which time they have established lives and careers in this country. They have jobs, bought houses, and became tax-paying members of American society. Many have started their own businesses and created jobs.

“The majority have married, often to American citizens, and have American-born children. Those families now face the draconian choice of either leaving their American families behind or bringing them into a dangerous situation in El Salvador.”                                                        

Lorena Telles is a typical example of the situation facing TPS El Salvadorian recipients. She has been living in New Jersey for 23 years with her husband and three daughters, ages 25, 24, and 22. She cleans houses and works at a gym. In El Salvador, she was a professor. She fled El Salvador due to the high crime rate. She couldn’t walk the streets, and she lost her family business because so much of her merchandise was stolen. “It’s worse now,” she said. “A couple I knew moved back recently to El Salvador to live out their retirement years. Shortly after they moved back, they were both killed at their home in a neighborhood that is thought to be safe. Residents go out and don’t know if they will ever make it back home.

“Men look for young women to rape and kidnap like they did with my two older daughters. They are here after seeking asylum. This is not the way I would have wanted them to be here, but I am happy they are alive. I am heartbroken to know we may be separated.”

Moving back to El Salvador is not an option for Telles. “I will not go back to my native country. I would look for another option but not El Salvador, and I would never bring my family to El Salvador. I wouldn’t put them in harms’ way.”

Molino is calling on Congress to find a fair solution that safeguards these individuals before the September 2019 deportation deadline. “This country has always been a beacon of hope for people all over the world. To fail such a defenseless population by not offering sanctuary here betrays the very ideals that founded this country.”

Comité En Unión para Salvadoreños (CEUS)

CEUS was founded by four Salvadorian refugees saw a need to establish Comité En Unión para Salvadoreños (CEUS) in 1993, with the goal to strengthen and to develop their community, and help other immigrants in their struggles. Two of the founders, Blanca Molina and Alma Martinez, are still involved.

CEUS is committed to strengthening and empowering the Hispanic immigrant community. Due to the increasing animosity directed toward the immigrant community, supporting CEUS’s goals have become more vital than ever. The non-profit seeks to organize and educate, and to create community power. Through programs of education, leadership, legal services, and community organization, CEUS seeks to enable immigrants to become full participants in their new home.

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