The Trump administration canceled the provisional residency permits of about 200,000 Salvadorans who have lived in the country since at least 2001, leaving them vulnerable to deportation, according to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announcement sent to lawmakers. The administration will notify the Salvadorans they have until September 9, 2019, to leave the United States or find a new way to obtain legal residency.
The Salvadorans were granted what is known as Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, after a series of earthquakes devastated the country in 2001. According to the DHS statement sent to lawmakers, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen determined that conditions in El Salvador have improved significantly since then, ending the original justification for the Salvadorans’ deportation protection.
Many landscape business owners are expressing concern that changes in the TPS could significantly impact their ability to field a legal workforce. In addition to El Salvador, the administration is expected to review the TPS for several other Latin American countries later this year. The National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP) will continue to work with Congress and the administration to stress the importance of the TPS to landscape professionals.
