News > Immigration In The United States
William’s Story: Make Temporary Protected Status Permanent!
Posted on Oct 23 2018
Born in El Salvador, William came to the United States in 2000, with his mother and brother. They came on tourist visas, to visit his grandma. They planned to return to El Salvador, but then disaster hit. On January 13, 2001, an earthquake hit El Salvador. The epicenter of the 7.7 magnitude quake was just 60 miles from the family’s home in San Miguel.
William was eight years old. His mother was at university, just two years away from becoming a doctor. Their home and life were in El Salvador, but his grandma didn’t want them to go back. Too dangerous, she said. Stay here with me.
The earthquake killed more than 900 people, completely destroyed 108,000 houses and damaged another 169,000. Aftershocks continued into February, when a second earthquake hit. On March 1, the U.S. government established Temporary Protected Status for Salvadorans physically present in the United States.
William’s mother applied, and the family has had TPS since that time. For her, the price was high: giving up her future career as a doctor in El Salvador, and going to work cleaning houses in the United States to support herself and her children. She worked hard, and eventually established a housecleaning business. William went to college, and also trained as an ironworker and welder. Now 26 years old, he is proud to have worked his way up to being a supervisor for both trades.
“A lot of people like me are TPS youth,” he says. “There’s a lot of hard work we have to do, such as background checks every 18 months [to renew TPS status.]” The TPS youth, like William, have lived in the United States for most of their lives. This is home to them. Now that protection is threatened.
The Trump administration ordered an end to TPS, despite State Department reports showing the danger of doing so. As New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez explained:
“[F]ormer Secretary Tillerson made it clear that ending TPS for El Salvador and Honduras would have major repercussions, including a likely backlash that weakened our cooperation to combat the drug trade and criminal gangs in Central America. And yet, the Trump Administration did it anyway.
“The State Department was also right in warning the Department of Homeland Security that ending these protections would leave TPS beneficiaries and their U.S.-citizen children vulnerable to criminal violence and gang recruitment by MS-13. And yet, the Trump Administration did it anyway.
“Beyond turning an entire community of legal residents into undocumented individuals, the State Department also cautioned that ending TPS for El Salvador, Honduras and Haiti would likely accelerate unauthorized immigration to the United States. The Trump Administration did it anyway.”
William is traveling with the TPS Caravan for Justice, which is traveling around the country for 12 weeks. “We are going to each state,” he said, “asking TPS holders to join us and also letting the U.S. citizens, our neighbors, to stand with us. We live in the country together, we work together, there should be no reason why we cannot stand together. The country is great. We’ve had differences, but that shouldn’t separate us.”
For now, a temporary injunction from a federal court protects TPS holders, but that is no guarantee for the future. If you want to support William and other TPS holders, contact your members of Congress and tell them to support a path to legal permanent residence for TPS holders. That’s the only way to real protection for William and all the other TPS holders who have made homes and lives here.