Since their start in the White House, the Trump Administration has tried to pass laws and enact change that almost always impacts good, hard working immigrants. It seems as though Mr. Trump’s most desirable targets are immigrants who have done nothing wrong, but have been categorized as criminals and menaces because of the simple fact that they were not born in America. Recently, nearly 200,000 El Salvadorans were told they must uproot their lives in the United States and move back to their country, which has been voted one of the most dangerous places in the world. This is the result of the Trump Administration’s decision to cease any continuation on the humanitarian program Temporary Protection Status, which allowed El Salvadorians to live and work in the U.S since 2001, when catastrophic earthquakes struck their country. These people have lived in America for over 10 years and almost all of them have an established job, kids who were born and raised here, and family and friends that they will have to say good-bye to. The problem is not just the fact that these immigrants will have to restart their lives, but that they will have to restart them in a country brimming with violence and corruption that provides little to no opportunity to any of its citizens.
Prior to this decision regarding El Salvadorans, almost 45,000 Haitians were sent back to their country after making a life here in the wake of the Earthquake that destroyed the majority of Haiti. Most El Salvadoran immigrants who are impacted by the change have yet to decide what they will do come September 2019, which is the month that all immigrants under the protection must leave. The Government has given these people only a year and 9 months to gather over 10 years of affairs in order and bid adieu to their lives in America. The extreme lack of compassion expressed towards immigrants since our Celebrity in Chief has taken over is obvious and it is reflected in the amount of policy reversals, bans and laws that are being pushed to sabotage those who have come here for a better life.
Despite the roads being fixed and the schools being open, violence still prevails in El Salvador and most TPS parents are struggling to decide what they will do come September 2019. Many people in the program are torn between bringing their children to a country replete with brutal crimes and violence or staying in America illegally and risking deportation and arrest. For many, the choice is obvious: to remain here regardless of consequence for the betterment of their children. The reason these parents are so fixed on staying in America is because El Salvador continues to be filled with poverty, drought and gang violence, which is no place to raise any child, regardless of their ethnicity. The Administration and Department of Homeland Security says that the program does not stand by its name “temporary” if it does not eventually end, so despite the 195,000 adults under the program and their 188,000 children, the name is ultimately behind the cruel ending of their Temporary Protection Status.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/08/us/salvadorans-tps-end.html, http://www.iyjl.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/22_immigrationnation_w.jpg