Nearly 200,000 Salvadorans must leave the U.S. after Trump reportedly ends protections

(Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The Trump administration intends to end Temporary Protected Status for almost 200,000 Salvadorans who have lived in America for more than a decade, officials told The New York Times. Salvadorans have been allowed to legally live and work in the U.S. after two earthquakes laid waste to their nation in 2001. Without the special protected status, the Salvadorans will be required to return to El Salvador.

"We have built a life here," protested Carlos Jiron, who has two American-born children that he must decide if he will take with him when he leaves. His 14-year-old daughter, Tania, said she cannot imagine living in El Salvador, adding: "This is where I was born and am supposed to be raised." The Times notes that the Temporary Protected Status program, established by President George H. W. Bush in 1990, was not set up as a path to citizenship:

Despite El Salvador's lingering dangers — including gang violence and drought, which caused the Obama administration to renew the protections in 2016 — the Trump administration says the damage from the 2001 earthquakes has been repaired and therefore the protections should end.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.