Why hasn’t the Trump administration decided the fate of TPS for Salvadorans?
asserted
administration → decide → Salvadorans
- The Trump administration has not reached a decision about whether to extend or revoke Temporary Protected Status for immigrants from El Salvador, more than three weeks after the deadline to do so.
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administration → reach → deadline
- The White House was warned that canceling TPS for Salvadorans would disrupt construction projects in Washington.
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canceling → warn → Washington
- Salvadorans bring decades of skilled experience to the construction industry, which would be difficult to quickly replace.
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which → bring → industry
More than three weeks have passed since the deadline for extending or revoking temporary protections against deportation for around 170,000 immigrants from El Salvador.
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weeks → pass → Salvador
The Trump administration still hasn’t reached a decision, plunging the Salvadoran community into uncertainty and raising questions about what has prompted the delay.
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what → reach → delay
The deportation reprieve is known as Temporary Protected Status.
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reprieve → know → Status
About 1.3 million people from 17 countries had TPS when President Trump returned to office last year, and Salvadorans make up the largest group of remaining beneficiaries.
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Salvadorans → have → beneficiaries
Thousands of Salvadoran immigrants nationwide faced uncertainty after the federal government failed to decide by a Wednesday deadline whether to extend or terminate their longtime temporary protections against deportation.
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government → face → deportation
When the TPS expiration deadlines approached for other groups, the administration reached a decision within days of a deadline.
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administration → approach → deadline
Haitians lost their TPS protections and were encouraged to leave the country.
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Haitians → lose → country
Some have been deported.
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Some → deport → ?
For now, Salvadoran immigrants are stuck.
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immigrants → stick → ?
Many have been able to keep their jobs, though others were laid off in the absence of an official work permit extension.
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others → keep → extension
Last month, administration officials said an announcement on TPS for Salvadorans would come “at the appropriate time” and that they would retain work authorization in the meantime.
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they → say → meantime
Asked for updated guidance Friday, a Homeland Security spokesperson provided the same statement.
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spokesperson → ask → statement
The Department of Homeland Security had been prepared to end TPS protections for Salvadorans but was stopped from doing so by the White House, Politico reported.
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Politico → prepare → House
So what’s causing the limbo?
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what → cause → limbo
One theory focuses on political considerations — that extending the deportation reprieve could have made the administration appear weak on immigration to its conservative base, just ahead of next month’s consequential midterm election.
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administration → focus → election
Another theory holds that ending TPS would shock El Salvador’s economy, which is heavily reliant on remittances from Salvadorans in the U.S. President Nayib Bukele, a Trump ally, advocated for more time, according to Politico.
uncertain
Bukele → hold → Politico
In addition, the White House was warned that canceling TPS for Salvadorans would disrupt construction projects in Washington, D.C., the New Yorker reported and a source with knowledge of the warnings confirmed they had occurred.
A White House official, in a statement, said that “any assertion Washington D.C. construction projects had anything to do with a decision about El Salvador TPS are false.”
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projects → warn → TPS
The Washington region has the second-largest Salvadoran population in the U.S., after Los Angeles, and the construction industry relies significantly on workers with TPS.
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industry → have → TPS
Trump is overseeing a sweeping aesthetic makeover of the nation’s capital, including his controversial 90,000-square-foot, $600-million ballroom complex at the White House.
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Trump → oversee → House
The president also ordered a facelift for the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, renovations at Lafayette Square, a public park across from the White House and the application of 23.75 karat gold leaf to four bronze and granite statues.
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president → order → statues
Contracts at sensitive locations such as the White House typically include requirements that workers be U.S. citizens.
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workers → include → requirements
A White House official said there is no one with TPS status working on the East Wing Modernization construction project.
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official → say → project
Asked about those working on the president’s other projects around the district, a Department of Interior spokesperson said contractors are obligated to ensure everyone working on any project is legally permitted to work in the U.S.
“The Department has not had any conversations about TPS or how it relates to construction projects around the city,” the spokesperson wrote in a statement.
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spokesperson → ask → statement
Lauren Truslow is chief executive of 3D Enviro, a Virginia company that does hazardous materials abatement with a handful of workers affected by the TPS expiration for El Salvador.
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that → do → Salvador
She said that after her employees’ federal badges expired last month, they were eventually reinstated until Oct. 9 — but not before missing several days of work.
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they → say → work
TPS allows immigrants to obtain work permits and other documents.
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immigrants → allow → permits
The uncertain status of TPS has led to sometime conflicting actions by government agencies or employers.
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status → lead → agencies
Advocates for TPS holders said some states have refused to renew their driver’s licenses, while others renewed licenses for different lengths of time.
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others → say → time
Truslow said some of her employees were only able to get federally noncompliant driver’s licenses, which they can’t use to get into federal facilities.
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they → say → facilities
“At least they’re here in this community and they weren’t forced to leave,” she said.
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she → ’re → community
“I don’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but I think there were ramifications with the decision and still there’s uncertainty.”
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I → want → decision
Truslow said the government agency her company works with is unrolling a new process.
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company → say → process
After next week, her workers on that project can seek an approval extension for their badges that would last until March.
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that → seek → March
For construction companies, getting rid of TPS “would be a disaster,” said Arnoldo Diaz, co-coordinator of the National TPS Alliance, an advocacy group.
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Diaz → rid → Alliance
“D.C. can’t function without TPS.”
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D.C. → function → TPS
More than 25,000 people have been expelled to ‘third countries’ under Trump, including to dangerous and conflict-ridden nations such as the Central Africa Republic.
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people → expel → Republic
…and 10 more, not listed.
The Aporia
