April 24, 2023 - WASHINGTON, D.C. - Last week, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.), and U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) along with 115 lawmakers, sent a letter to the Biden Administration calling on them to continue to protect displaced Salvadorans and Hondurans by redesignating El Salvador and Honduras for Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Established by the U.S. Congress through the Immigration Act of 1990, TPS is a temporary, renewable program that provides relief from removal and access to work permits for eligible foreign nationals who are unable to return safely to their home countries due to natural disasters, armed conflicts, or other extraordinary conditions.

Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.)

Over 400,000 people with TPS are currently living in communities across the United States—where they fill important gaps in local economies and contribute billions of dollars every year in taxes. The largest populations of TPS holders live in California, which is home to nearly 18% of all people in this category.

“We urge you to redesignate Honduras and El Salvador for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), as it is unsafe for the nationals of these countries to be returned at this time due to severe environmental damage caused by successive hurricanes and climate change-related catastrophes, combined with human rights violations and cascading political crises exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Both El Salvador and Honduras face separate but equally devastating realities that prevent individuals who have fled these countries from safely returning,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter to the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Regarding El Salvador, the lawmakers continued: “According to the U.S. State Department’s 2022 country report, there have been significant human rights issues in the country, including credible reports of ‘unlawful or arbitrary killings, forced disappearances; torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by security forces; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention.’[1] In particular, the government’s implementation of the State of Exception, a year-long and continuing state of emergency that is renewed monthly, has imprisoned 2% of the population, led to mass disappearances, and threatened the ability of communities to thrive economically.[2] Since its implementation, security officials have committed widespread human rights violations, including arbitrary detentions, torture, inhumane treatment, and deaths in custody, specifically targeting young people in poor neighborhoods.[3] Furthermore, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights named El Salvador the most dangerous Latin American country for women as it reported the highest number of murders of women in Latin America and the Caribbean.[4] Each of these human rights violations mean that Salvadorans living outside of the country are unable to return to the country safely at this time.”

TPS for El Salvador was designated in 2001.

Regarding Honduras, the lawmakers wrote: “The 2021 general elections faced unprecedented levels of political violence. Deadly attacks on municipal and congressional candidates and their supporters more than doubled in 2021, and at least 68 municipal or congressional candidates were murdered leading up to election day.[5] Further, the U.S. State Department’s 2022 country report on human rights practices in Honduras concludes that there have been significant human rights issues in the country, including criminal groups committing acts of ‘homicide, torture, kidnapping, extortion, human trafficking, intimidation, and other threats and violence,’ particularly against vulnerable populations, including human rights defenders, judicial authorities, women, and ethnic minorities.[6] …The ongoing humanitarian crises in Honduras coupled with the devastating impact of the environmental disasters, makes the safe return of Honduran TPS holders and those eligible for TPS inconceivable.”

TPS for Honduras was designated in 1999.

TPS for both El Salvador and Honduras is in jeopardy because of actions by the Trump Administration. Redesignating El Salvador and Honduras for TPS would ensure that current TPS recipients and those eligible for TPS from these countries receive needed protection.

Senator Padilla has long been a strong advocate for the TPS program. Padilla has previously pushed the Biden Administration to redesignate Venezuela and designate Ukraine for TPS.

In addition to Kaine and Castro, the letter was also signed by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark R. Warner (D-Va.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Rev. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), and U.S. Representatives Chuy García, Velázquez, Norton, Wasserman Schultz, Bush, Hank Johnson, Barragán, Panetta, Espaillat, Barbara Lee, Correa, Connolly, Cárdenas, Schakowsky, Mfume, Ramirez, Meng, Frederica Wilson, Sara Jacobs, Adam Smith, Payne, McGovern, Casar, Ivey, Titus, Pocan, Pressley, Bowman, Gomez, Vargas, Omar, Beyer, Evans, Soto, Trone, Porter, Sylvia Garcia, Napolitano, Ritchie Torres, Sánchez, McClellan, Pallone, Grijalva, Ocasio-Cortez, Meeks, Lofgren, Escobar, Castor, Carson, Doggett, Summer Lee, Robert Garcia, Nikema Williams, Kamlager-Dove, Chu, Salinas, Tlaib, Watson Coleman, Cherfilus-McCormick, Yvette Clarke, Jayapal, Crockett, Gallego, Sheila Jackson Lee, Quigley, Madeleine Dean, Stansbury, Bonamici, Wexton, Green, Raskin, Leger Fernandez, Norma Torres, Carter, Wild, Ruppersberger, Nadler, Carbajal, Spanberger, Trahan, Ruiz, Wyden, Menendez Jr., Frost, Aguilar, Robert Scott, and Veasey.        

The letter is supported by Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), AFL-CIO, African Communities Together (ACT), Nicaraguan American Human Rights Alliance, NAHRA, Wind of the Spirit Immigrant Resource Center, Strangers No Longer (Michigan), Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP), America’s Voice, CASA, National Partnership for New Americans, UndocuBlack Network, Arcadia MGMT, Family Action Network Movement, Nigerian Center, Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, Venezuelan American Caucus, Indivisible, Community Change, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, National Immigrant Justice Center, Alianza Americas, National Immigrant Justice Center, International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), Church World Service, Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC), UnidosUS, Immigrant Defenders Law Center, Central American Resource Center of Northern CA – CARECEN SF, Central American Resource Center of DC, Oxfam America, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, Dorothy Day Catholic Workers (DC), Save the Children, Franciscan Action Network, Immigration Hub, National Domestic Workers Alliance, Care in Action, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Communities United for Status & Protection (CUSP), Central American Resource Center (CARECEN-LA), National TPS Alliance, Working Families United, National Roofing Contractors Association, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), North Carolina Justice Center, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), United We Dream, and Make the Road New York.

Full text of the letter is available here and below:

Dear Secretary Mayorkas and Secretary Blinken,

We urge you to redesignate Honduras and El Salvador for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), as it is unsafe for the- nationals of these countries to be returned at this time due to severe environmental damage caused by successive hurricanes and climate change-related catastrophes, combined with human rights violations and cascading political crises exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Both El Salvador and Honduras face separate but equally devastating realities that prevent individuals who have fled these countries from safely returning. Furthermore, the continued litigation in the Ramos v. Nielsen case leave many in jeopardy and, whatever its result, may still prevent thousands from accessing much-needed protection. A TPS redesignation for El Salvador and Honduras would protect eligible beneficiaries from the dangers they face if they were removed, and would also enable them to support their loved ones back home, reducing the pressure for others in these countries to resort to irregular migration.

El Salvador and Honduras were devastated by three severe environmental catastrophes in the last few years. Hurricanes Iota and Eta destroyed homes, public infrastructure, and health care systems, and crushed the agricultural sector which is the predominant occupation of its people. In Honduras, the hurricanes displaced 937,000 people, caused widespread damage to agricultural lands and infrastructure, and affected over 4.5 million Hondurans.[7] Honduras continued to experience environmental disasters, including floods, landslides, and tropical storms last year that displaced hundreds of thousands and could increase the number of Hondurans living in extreme poverty from 42% to 64%.[8] Combined, the effects of the natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic have profoundly exacerbated food insecurity, violence, and led to rising social tensions. All this is happening while Honduras is struggling with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic: food insecurity, poverty, and economic instability exacerbated by the pandemic have left the country’s population struggling to survive.[9] Over a quarter of El Salvador’s population lives in deep poverty and facing poor health or malnutrition, and in Honduras, an estimated 2.6 million people, nearly a third of the population, were facing a hunger crisis as of 2022.[10]

El Salvador

Although these conditions alone arguably warrant a TPS redesignation, the subsequent human rights and economic crises have exacerbated the impact on public safety in El Salvador and Honduras, although both countries face unique situational contexts. El Salvador has suffered severe insecurity, and the government’s subsequent crackdown has resulted in discrimination and human rights violations that threaten the everyday lives of Salvadorans. According to the U.S. State Department’s 2022 country report, there have been significant human rights issues in the country, including credible reports of “unlawful or arbitrary killings, forced disappearances; torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by security forces; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention.”[11] In particular, the government’s implementation of the State of Exception, a year-long and continuing state of emergency that is renewed monthly, has imprisoned 2% of the population, led to mass disappearances, and threatened the ability of communities to thrive economically.[12] Since its implementation, security officials have committed widespread human rights violations, including arbitrary detentions, torture, inhumane treatment, and deaths in custody, specifically targeting young people in poor neighborhoods.[13] Furthermore, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights named El Salvador the most dangerous Latin American country for women as it reported the highest number of murders of women in Latin America and the Caribbean.[14] Each of these human rights violations mean that Salvadorans living outside of the country are unable to return to the country safely at this time.

Honduras

The impact of these disasters on Hondurans has been exacerbated by high levels of politically motivated violence and insecurity. The 2021 general elections faced unprecedented levels of political violence. Deadly attacks on municipal and congressional candidates and their supporters more than doubled in 2021, and at least 68 municipal or congressional candidates were murdered leading up to election day.[15]Further, the U.S. State Department’s 2022 country report on human rights practices in Honduras concludes that there have been significant human rights issues in the country, including criminal groups committing acts of “homicide, torture, kidnapping, extortion, human trafficking, intimidation, and other threats and violence,” particularly against vulnerable populations, including human rights defenders, judicial authorities, women, and ethnic minorities.[16]

TPS is a humanitarian tool used by both Democratic and Republican administrations to provide relief for individuals who are unable to return to their home countries facing extraordinary and temporary conditions. The ongoing humanitarian crises in Honduras coupled with the devastating impact of the environmental disasters, makes the safe return of Honduran TPS holders and those eligible for TPS inconceivable. A redesignation would give the U.S. government an opportunity to partner with the Honduran government and civil society groups in the region to address the root causes of migration without creating further instability and volatility. The immediate and tangible humanitarian benefits of TPS would help advance life-saving and stability enhancing remittances to the region.

We urge you to redesignate TPS for El Salvador and Honduras. Thank you for your consideration of this important matter.

Sincerely,
Source: Senator Alex Padilla