Letter to Elaine Duke, Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security - Bipartisan Group of 116 Lawmakers Call to Extend Temporary Protections for Salvadorans and Hondurans

Letter

Dear Acting Secretary Duke,

We write to strongly urge you to renew the Temporary Protected Status designation for Honduras and El Salvador.

Failing to renew TPS would needlessly tear apart families and communities across the country. There are currently approximately 200,000 Salvadorans who hold TPS and the approximately 61,000 Hondurans. TPS holders from Honduras and El Salvador have become valued and important members of our communities. They have started families, opened businesses, and contributed to this country in countless ways. They are part of the fabric of America.

Honduras and El Salvador remain unprepared to receive these individuals. As the most recent TPS extension notes, there is a "substantial, but temporary, disruption of living conditions" in both countries, resulting from Hurricane Mitch in Honduras and a series of earthquakes in El Salvador. Unfortunately, conditions have not improved sufficiently since the most recent extension. Additionally, El Salvador and Honduras are ranked as among the most violent countries in the world, and job opportunities are scarce. These factors complicate the ability of Honduras and El Salvador to fully recover from the natural disasters that resulted in their original designation.

The potential return of hundreds of thousands of former TPS holders to Honduras and El Salvador would likely bring destabilizing consequences throughout the region. At the Conference for Prosperity and Security in Central America, you stated that the "U.S. Homeland Security mission is affected directly by what goes on in Central America." We agree, and we are deeply concerned that failing to renew TPS status for Honduras and El Salvador would undermine U.S. efforts to advance prosperity and security in Central America.

TPS designations have been made and extended under administrations of both political parties since its creation by statute in 1990; extension of these TPS designations is not only fully within your authority but completely appropriate given the country conditions. We strongly urge you to renew TPS, in order to preserve the integrity of American families and communities, and to steady the path of progress being made toward stability in the region.

Thank you for your consideration of this important request.

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