CORTEZ MASTO AND COLLEAGUES CALL FOR TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS REDESIGNATION FOR EL SALVADOR AND HONDURAS

Press Release

"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.

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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.' 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. 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.

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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. 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. …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."

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