Trump Holds Off on Deporting Salvadoran Immigrants

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Since the Supreme Court ruled earlier this year in Mullin v. Doe that the Trump administration could end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for immigrants from countries experiencing humanitarian crises that make it difficult to return home safely, the lives of thousands who had the legal right to live and work in the U.S. have been thrown into upheaval. Hundreds of Haitians have been deported back to a country riddled with violence and political instability, despite the State Department issuing a “Do not travel” advisory for the country. Throughout the Trump administration, Haitian TPS holders have seen a surge in targeting by ICE, which included “probation” in the form of ankle monitors, arrest, detention, and now deportation.

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TPS was established in 1990 as a part of the Immigration Act, creating a legal status for nationals from designated countries, with work permits and protection from deportation. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has the discretion to renew the period in which people can stay in the U.S. (up to 18 months), which it can extend indefinitely. As of last March, there were over one million people with TPS status in the U.S., with migrants from Venezuela, Haiti, and El Salvador accounting for the majority.

That last country on the list is unique, because El Salvador during the Trump administration has become a staunch ally. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has accepted and imprisoned detainees and agreed to other favors from the administration. And that could be impacting the country’s TPS designation.

Riding on the philosophy that TPS is “just that, temporary,” the Trump administration has moved to eliminate designations for the majority of countries covered by TPS. But as of September 9, when protections for Salvadorans were set to expire, the Trump administration hadn’t made an official statement. Under the statute, protections are then automatically extended for six months.

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An alert posted on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website simply said that “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 including work authorization.” No other information has been made available. The Prospect reached out to DHS for comment but did not receive a response.

Mullin ensured that the president has the full authority to make all decisions around TPS, meaning that there are few avenues to challenge this silence, or any statements regarding the program in the future.

Both Trump and Bukele have found themselves in a delicate position when it comes to the end of TPS. Maintaining mutual support is beneficial to the U.S. and El Salvador, albeit in different ways. “At this moment, to lose TPS would be politically very damaging to a president who’s trying to create the guise of legitimacy around an autocratic electoral process,” says Noah Bullock, executive director of Cristosal, a human rights organization based in El Salvador.

“I think that’s what’s transpiring is some face-saving on both sides. I think Trump couldn’t outright renew TPS, but in canceling it outright, he would politically hurt one of his principal allies in the region,” Bullock contended.

EL SALVADOR WAS GRANTED A TPS DESIGNATION in 2001, following two devastating earthquakes that killed and displaced hundreds. But many Salvadorans who gained TPS have been in the U.S. since the 1990s, seeking refuge from a civil war. “That creates a long trajectory community with deep roots across cities in the United States with profound relationships in the communities that they call home,” says Yanira Arias, an organizer for Alianza Americas and a TPS holder.

Around 200,000 Salvadorans hold TPS status. According to the National TPS Alliance and fwd.us, Salvadoran TPS holders contribute an estimated $5.4 billion to the U.S. economy each year. Overall, recipients of any TPS designations contribute more than $29 billion annually and send millions of dollars back to their families in their countries of origin. Indeed, remittances sent by Salvadoran immigrants make up 25 percent of the country’s GDP, according to the World Bank.

That’s a status quo Bukele might want to maintain.

In 2022, after an uptick in violent crime committed by gangs, the Salvadoran government, under Bukele’s leadership, declared a state of emergency. It allowed for authorities to make warrantless arrests, and resulted in a mass incarceration campaign. Nearly 2 percent of the population is in detention, with the Center for Terrorism Confinement (CECOT), a mega-prison, holding thousands.

Shortly after Trump began his second term, around 250 Venezuelans were deported from the U.S. to El Salvador, and were immediately incarcerated in CECOT. Reports from organizations like Human Rights Watch have detailed systemic human rights violations inside the prison, including torture.

Recently, the government has begun conducting mass trials, in which hundreds of people are accused and convicted of the same crime, which often results in decades-long sentences. Cases have been emerging of individuals who were deported back to El Salvador and immediately arrested.

Beyond his aggressive security policies, Bukele’s government has continued to remove guardrails that check executive power, including an amendment to the constitution that did away with presidential term limits. Attacks routinely occur against journalists, activists, and human rights defenders.

“TPS holders being sent back to El Salvador will be sent to a country in which the government is perpetrating crimes against humanity at this moment,” says Bullock. “People who are being sent back to El Salvador will have to adapt to a political and justice system that can detain anyone it wants, and they won’t really have an opportunity to defend themselves.”

By keeping TPS in place, the White House is essentially saying that El Salvador is too dangerous for immigrants to return. But their rhetoric is the exact opposite. The Trump administration has routinely praised Bukele’s government and his crackdown on crime.

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Beyond paying El Salvador to hold Venezuelan deportees in CECOT, Trump and Bukele have met on several occasions, expressing admiration for each other and a desire to maintain a positive diplomatic partnership. Bukele has also allowed for the U.S. military to use El Salvador as an operative site to kill alleged narco-traffickers in the Caribbean, as a member of the newly minted Shield of the Americas coalition.

The relationship between Trump and Bukele is transactional, says Abel Núñez, executive director of CARECEN. “Trump has an agenda, and the agenda is that he wants to kick all the undocumented people out. Bukele has an agenda. He’s saying that ‘we are a first-world nation.’ There is no way that Bukele would come and ask him to extend that benefit, although he needs it because they [TPS holders] send money back.”

RECENT REPORTING FROM POLITICO REVEALED that the White House had stopped DHS from ending the TPS designation for El Salvador. Sources pointed to the possibility that, with the midterms fast approaching, the last thing the Trump administration wants is to add more fuel to the fire by making an official decision.

But Núñez thinks there might be something more to it: “There’s something else that’s happening, something that is impacting Trump directly that he needs from the Salvadorian TPS holders, and when we find that, that’s going to be the reason why this is being this way. I don’t think it’s Bukele. I don’t think it’s the midterm elections. I think it’s something else.”

Even if the Trump administration decides to officially extend TPS protections for Salvadorans, provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) will make it difficult for individuals to maintain work authorization. Initial or renewed Employment Authorization Documents for TPS holders are now only valid for one year, or until the TPS designation expires. But the law states that the shorter period will maintain the validity of work authorization, and does not account for the extension of the designation.

Many Salvadoran TPS holders have reported confusion and uncertainty, not only about their ability to work, but also regarding the steps they should take to prepare for losing their immigration status. TPS doesn’t provide opportunities for holders to pursue paths toward other legal status. Obtaining a green card or applying for citizenship is a separate venture that is both lengthy and expensive. After spending decades living in the U.S., TPS holders have become entrenched in the fabric of this country.

“Although there is a pride in the country of origin of El Salvador, their [TPS holders’] entire lives have been built in the United States,” says Arias. “It’s not only a matter of property or assets, but the meaningful social connections that are for TPS holders from El Salvador in their cities and in their communities.”

The Trump administration has routinely peddled voluntary self-deportation as an available option for those without legal status. With increasing constraints on the number of options or avenues that individuals have to remain in the U.S., TPS holders are faced with the decision to leave now, or wait in limbo.

The post appeared first on The American Prospect.