By Kanishka Singh and Kristina Cooke
WASHINGTON, Sept 9 (Reuters) – The Trump administration said tens of thousands of immigrants from El Salvador will for now keep their temporary protected status that had been scheduled to expire on Wednesday.
Temporary protected status allows people already in the U.S. to remain in the country and work legally if their home countries are affected by natural disasters, armed conflict or other extraordinary conditions.
“An announcement on El Salvador’s TPS will be made at the appropriate time. Until such announcement is made, Salvadoran individuals present in the U.S. under TPS retain protection,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
It did not provide information on when such a decision could be announced.
The National TPS Alliance advocacy group says some 170,000 Salvadoran TPS holders live across the United States, with about 152,000 being in the U.S. workforce and contributing about $5.4 billion to the U.S. economy.
President Donald Trump’s administration has moved to end temporary protected status for nationals from various countries as part of his broader immigration crackdown effort.
Trump has pursued an aggressive immigration crackdown and deportation drive that rights advocates condemn as being in violation of due process and free speech rights. Human rights advocates also say the crackdown has created an unsafe environment, particularly for ethnic minorities who have raised concerns about racial profiling.
Trump says his actions are aimed at improving domestic security.
While Trump campaigned in 2024 on stopping illegal immigration, his administration has also made legal immigration more difficult – for example, by imposing expensive fees for applicants of certain visas and by enforcing social media vetting for applicants and immigrants already in the country.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Kristina Cooke; Editing by Stephen Coates)
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