Temporary has been unnecessarily extended by several administrations before Trump. Finally, meaning is added to the program. We do not need another undeserved pathway to citizenship in the US.
14
America has no right to act like every other country in the world, by enforcing our own immigration laws?
12
First the Haitians, now the Salvadorans - You can believe if these were 200,000 immigrants from Sweden he wouldn't be sending them back.
8
Stop with the hand-wringing and gnashing of teeth over this latest Trump edict; nothing will happen. The majority of these people have US born children and, as we all know, this means, US citizens.
The challenges are already being drawn up, the liberal groups girding their loins for a long drawn up battle. This situation has a long, long, long way to run .......
5
What we are witnessing is a program that was meant as temporary sanctuary in the US for the 100,000 El Salvadorians, turn into an amnesty program. The argument, if the program is ended, you add more Illegal immigrants to the US population is disingenuous and a false equivalence. What is being tested is America's resolve to enforce current immigration laws. It is a false fallacy who advocate that the current immigration procedure is unfair, unattainable and too lengthy. But to the millions who came legally and through proper lawful means, the current immigration laws were adhered to and followed. Yet for illegals aliens the following plan is followed: cross illegally, stay illegally, obtain fraudulent documents and assume a different identity, within years amnesty will follow. Liberal America encourages illegal immigration under the guise of morality. States become sanctuary havens and non-compliance of federal immigration laws. TPS was a temporary measure and somehow is becoming an amnesty program. For 17 years, America has accommodated these sojourners and in those 17 years very little acculturation has occurred, Many do not speak the language and posses little marketable skills; and yet a sense of entitlement pervades amongst the TPS guests. All are welcome to apply for visa programs and should re-enter as millions before them, legally and through proper channels. Ask those immigrants who arrived legally if they approve of illegal immigration?
18
The deal we all made was "temporary." If they had insisted on "permanent" from the beginning they'd all still be in El Salvador (or underground here).
If we want to maintain our ability to offer temporary refuge for people from all over the world who have suffered environmental or other crisis we have to insist on the TEMPORARY part. It will not work politically, nor should it, to immediately admit to PERMANENT residency hundreds of thousands of people because of some disaster in a far off place.
We were generous. We took them in when an earthquake devastated their country. (They would not have done the same for us, I'm willing to bet.) The deal however was TEMPORARILY. It does them little credit when they want to violate the terms of what they agreed to so long ago. Should we have refused to take them in in the first place? In light of what is happening now, it would seem so.
15
One reason that people are upset with immigrants is the fact that they don’t learn English. A woman quoted in this story hhas been here more than 20 years undeer the “temporary” program, but she answered the interviewer in Spanish, not English. It seems they don’t like us.
A second disturbing fact is that they own houses while many native born struggle to pay rent, and take the bus, rather than own a car.
Immigrants seem to be doing better than a great number of native born who have slipped from the middle class. At a time of economic struggle, which the Trrump administration has done nothing to relieve, this has led t don’t share our language, or who maintain they religious garb. I have sympath for refugees, but thet should be placed in refugee camps. This way to manage immigration of refugees could also be extended to undocumented economic refugees.
13
Is this what we have become a Heartless Nation? Makes one think if they were Blue eye and blondes This Administration would take a different stand.
3
All casualties of US foreign policies ought to be eligible for accelerated citizenship.
4
This calamity only shows that the US needs an entirely new and consistent immigration policy. Cubans and Vietnamese have summarily received green cards on arrival and a path to citizenship. Central Americans fleeing countries the US equally abandoned have not.
2
Since Trump's election, I am more and more embarrassed to be an American every day. This is dumbfounding, shameful and a waste of the government's attention and time.
10
Is it possible for folks in this category (and others) to apply for a green card?
https://www.uscis.gov/greencard/eligibility-categories
There are many ways to qualify. This provides permanent residency.
Other than that, pray that Congress and the President enact reform regarding citizenship.
4
This is another very bad, very destructive decision by this administration. It should be reversed immediately.
Surely there is a better way. Are the Salvadoreans a danger to the country? Not likely, from all appearances. Are they contributing to the U.S.A.? Obviously they are.
Let's get the Trump administration out of our country, instead. Much better idea.
6
Elsewhere, the Times reports that Libya is returning illegal Nigerians to their home country. Does "compassion" require that we welcome those Nigerians? Are they any less deserving of "compassion" because of their geographic distance? Because their country is not in rough geographic proximity to ours? Because this country did not allow them physical presence for an expressly limited time?
When it comes to exercising compassion, neither logic nor the portions of the Gospels that the left cherrypicks permits such distinctions.
7
This just in: America is spozed to be better than a country like Libya.
7
I am avidly anti-Trump, and support many forms of immigration reform (including of course, protecting dreamers). But this isolated case is the right call.
A government program which cheats itself is bad, always. To grant temporary asylum when in fact your are admitting people based on stochastic natural disasters is very poor policy. Forcing all temporary asylum to become permanent destroys the whole concept of asylum. If all debts were forcibly forgiven - who would lend?
Permanent paths to citizenship are very important. But they should be based on sound policy following debate, not on a disaster "lottery".
13
I think most Americans were not aware that Salvadorans were here SEVENTEEN YEARS after an earthquake....why? Temporary refuge is one thing. That is NOT temporary at all.
This is the kind of sneaky, under the wire kind of thing that the lefty liberals have done for years -- come up with some excuse to move 200,000 people here for almost 2 decades -- knowing they will likely have children here, so anchor babies -- or marry Americans -- meaning they won't LEAVE. Now they have an excuse or a welfare stream of income!
Temporary refuge in such cases must have specific time limits, or it just looks like lefty libs trying to game the system. Every Salvadoran here has been displacing a US citizen -- taking jobs, taking places in schools & colleges, taking up housing, etc.
It is more than enough time for such programs to be re-evaluated and ended.
20
Judging by your reasoning, I'd say let 'em stay. YOU can leave; we need smarts, wllingness to work, and open-heartedness in America.
6
And most are employed happily by Republicans
2
Meanwhile this paper runs huge articles about the homeless on the subways. But all the Dems care about is importing yet more Latinos here without skills, without a word of English and without any ability to pay the real costs they impose on us.
20
Permanently to date we have invested ~$4.4B in El Salvador. America has done its part.
12
I can't think of anything more devasting to a family than to be told that the country that has allowed you to stay since 2001 is now kicking you out. These people aren't criminals, they are simply people who have essentially become part of the American fabric in the hopes of becoming permanent citizens. To pull the rug out from under them after years of being allowed to stay is unconscionable. I am sure that Lady Liberty is probably weeping right now.
Hopefully, some of these honest, decent, hardworking, taxpaying immigrants don't mind the snow and find their way up north. Canada is a country of full of immigrants and seems to work quite well.
5
The Trump regime is unspeakably cruel.
8
The whole time they were here they could have knocked out the paperwork and skillsets needed for full citizenship. But that was too much work I guess.
13
Why are these hard working decent people being threatened with deportation to a country that is crime ridden and unsafe? Another nasty decision by the Trump administration that showcases the total lack of humanity and empathy toward anyone that is hispanic or black.
3
Donald Trump says that anyone who is not a CEO of a bigly company is hereby deemed to be a moocher, and must leave.
They must send all of the money in their bank accounts to The Donald before they leave.
5
This is so typical for the left.
Be outraged, upset, deride and accuse your own country of every sort of barbaric crime you can think of, insult everything we have here for the sake of enforcing the law.
What will happen, and mark my word, this outrage from the left will get no further than these pages. These comments posted from a couch or behind a desk in a warm home, there will be no protest, there will be no real action taken to back up this ""outrage" at this government action.
Many comments call for protests in the street, rallies etc.
They care, but they don't care that much, that's a bit of a stretch for them. Outrage and contempt at the keyboard makes you feel good and you also prevents you from having to go out into the cold.
To conclude, once the story is taken off the website, their interest and outrage in the subject matter will fade as well.
12
It's easy to get emotional about this issue. Let's stay rational. Do they deserve a path to Citizenship? Almost all of them do. Is the price for this by President Trump a silly wall on our southern border? Probably. Let him have it. Build this wall. But let them stay. Once the wall is built, I'm sure those that really want to come in the USA will fly to Canada and walk south somewhere along the 1500 mile northern border...
4
This is happening not because of Trump but because of the racist people that voted for Trump. Trump represents a core of America that still lives and breeds racism.
Until we out vote racism and the Republican party, we will get more Trump.
2
The 79000 votes that gave Trump the Electoral College does not make our country great. Resist. We must get through this or our democracy will be lost. I am so tired of people complaining that immigrants are taking jobs from WHITE AMERICANS. We are a better country when we are the melting pot of cultures that built this country..
2
Shame on Obama and the Democrats for leading people on and toying with their lives. They knew all along that these were NOT Americans but simply didn't care. As far as Obama was concerned, our country is free for the taking to anyone who wants to simply walk in. This is the single reason why Trump won despite all of his insanity.
12
This just in: Republicans controlled the government in 2001. Until 2006, when they crashed the economy after starting a demented war, in fact.
6
12 years—13 or 14 by Sept 2019—is a long time in the life of a family. Refugees who have prospered and become established here after a decade or so of TPS should receive green cards it they want them, it seems to me. This would be good for them and good for the country.
President Trump apparently recognizes the value of stability (at least for geniuses). This action to end TPS for the salvadoreños will create instability for hundreds of thousands of people who do not deserve it. Fie on him and his DHS.
2
I understand the purpose of a TPS program. It needs to be made clearer as to how long and under what terms people can stay in the country; how they might engage in job or skill training that will assist them (if needed); and, if they will or will not have a path to citizenship.
I also understand that temporary may ultimately have an end. But that end should not be arbitrary or cruelly delivered.
What is unfortunate here, is that no one recognized the lack of clarity to begin with; and secondly, that if TPS is ended for a particular group, they need to have ample warning and time to prepare for a return (if the country's conditions allow such) or offered a rigorous path to citizenship.
7
What part of the word "temporary" are readers having difficulty understanding?
If our legal system wants to make a considered judgment to allow them to stay, fine. But stop invoking compassion (and denunciations of Trump) as a reason to ignore our laws. The number of people in the world who deserve "compassion" far exceeds our capacity to provide it.
13
I would gladly serve as a guardian to one (or more) of these children whose parents may be forced to leave. I hope that some organization can facilitate such arrangements in order to protect these young lives.
1
One of the biggest problems we have with immigration is that hardly anyone can articulate how the system actually works. Thus, people get confused and believe things about it that are not true. We need a simpler, more understandable system. As to the Salvadorans, those without criminal records can stay because the temporary part of the law has been ignored by the government for so long. I suspect they are being used as a bargaining chip. Congress, please step up to the plate and tackle immigration reform.
2
We don't need housekeepers, we need engineers, it's a false equivalency when the left proclaims that we have a shortage of people and workers in this country.
Everyone of my friends has a different housekeeper, there's more than enough, trust me on that one.
15
We are all either immigrants or descendants of immigrants. Our native Americans were our earliest immigrants. One of my ancestors was a Felon transported to the Colonies. His descendants have fought in every war American has had, They have been farmers, inventors, doctors, lawyers, school teachers and just about every other profession. The Salvadoreans have been here for almost 20 years, They have also worked and contributed to the economy. They should be allowed to stay and should have the right to become citizens. Trump's order are clearly a bone thrown to his racist supporters.
America is better that that. Trump need to read and have explained to him the plaque on the State of Liberty.
10
This is pandering. Our nation of immigrants came here legally, or before there was any legal polity to define a nation-state.
In truth, you would have the criterion for admission be whether it sufficiently demonstrates "compassion". Let me know of any other countries that employ that kind of amorphous, in-the-eye-of-the-beholder standard in place of law. Countries where anyone would want to live, that is.
11
America should be better than that. But " res ipsa loquitor", we are not better than that though we once were.
2
Yuri, the number of people in this world who need compassion, however defined, far exceeds our capacity to provide it. And compassion usually is appropriate in inverse proportion to physical prowess. Why in the world do able bodied men and women, who are able to present themselves at the border, deserve compassion greater than the aged and infirm left behind?
3
This is heart-breaking. If this is what it takes to win an election in the United States we are a horrible people. It was the Reagan administration that created this hell in El Salvador, supporting and encouraging "death squads". I was teaching ESL in Los Angeles during their civil war and met the survivors who turned up in my class, 12 to 18 year-olds who had witnessed and experienced the torture and murder of loved ones. This is a recurring nightmare.
17
Thank you for your comment. You are absolutely right! I am one those kids that you are referring to. My mother had to leave El Salvador and left her 8 children behind. I was only two years old when she left. Things were so much better then as she was able to get her green card and get us all here legally before the war took it's toll. It was a horrific time. I still have memories of the confrontations between the guerrillas and the soldiers. It breaks my heart what these families that are going through. I can't even imagine after living here for so long and having to go back to a place that they don't even know. The war divided families and this administration will continue to divide.
8
We should deport the Statue of Liberty too.
13
Agree. I also wrote that.
6
Almost HALF of todays Fortune 500 companies were started by FIRST or SECOND generation immigrants to America. Keep it up America, by continually electing this group of dinosaurs you will revert back to an economic stone age.
10
Oh good, a lot of them will wind up on our doorstep in Canada due to this decision. Hopefully, not in the biting cold at some God forsaken unofficial crossing where they lose their hands to frostbite or die (yes it can happen). Or, perhaps even worse, they go back to their murder-ridden country and die there at the hands of violent gangs and drug-kingpins. Such a humane gesture, and so bloody typical. Nobody is surprised.
7
America's Trail of Tears revisited.
10
Good. Now go stand in the back of the line and wait your turn to enter legally and respect the laws of the United States when you are allowed back in.
17
These didn't sneak in illegally...They were allowed in and allowed to stay for long enough that they became part of the community and economy
3
It breaks my heart to think our country could be so cruel. If we need to end TOS, fine, but why do we have to punish innocent people? let them stay.
2
Breaking up tens of thousands of families. Tearing fathers and mothers away from their children. If any other country on Earth drove out two hundred thousand of its residents based on their origin, we'd call it ethnic cleansing--- which it is. Is there no end to this villainy?
9
New Colossus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
5
It's a poem, not a policy. And this poem is affixed to the Statue of Liberty, not the Statute of Liberty.
6
We must remove the Statue of Liberty and return it to France saying, " Merci beaucoup, mon ami, but our culture has been transformed and the statue no longer represents what we now stand for."
12
This is horrific and embarrassing. The United States of America is comprised of immigrants. We are an immigrant nation, begun by immigrants and settled by immigrants with the sole exception of the Native Americans. These Salvadorans are Americans now. We should be offering permanent citizenship. They have American children, they own homes, pay taxes, work hard like the American immigrants before them. The state department considers El Salvador to be too dangerous to visit and has a travel advisory in place. Everyone of us should begin to adopt each family now. They don't need to go, Trump needs to go.
6
Hello,
First, I am a naturalised US citizen; I can not imagine having this happen to me when I lived in USA. Of course its more BAD TRUMP.
I do have a remark to make; Jose says he has been in USA 22 years. I'm sure in that time he speaks English, even if with an accent. Your reporter is not doing any favours by having people speak Spanish. Some people will see this and react like " what, after 22 years he doesn't speak English? These people really don't want to integrate." This to me is a big error on the part of the reporter.
4
Jean Louis,
It isn't possible that they really don't speak English?
5
I'll tell what other person is "temporary."
Any Trump-Traitor who sought, accepted and benefited from the help of a foreign nation to try and gain advantage in our elections.
Temporarily a free man.
Soon to be an illegal.
5
How is it that "temporary" stretches into 20 years? How is it that in 20 years those who wished to remain in America didn't become citizens? How is it that the left thinks this is appropriate? It's like inviting your neighbor in to stay for awhile after their house burned down and they never leave. Unbelieveable.
14
Not a good analogy. Hopefully these Latinos have good critical thinking skills. Wisdom, understanding and knowledge are the underpinnings of a successful society.
1
The root of this problem is a US Congress unable to legislate, or even address, the important issues of the day. The obstructionism that plagues Congress is like an infectious bug transmitted by gerrymandering and carried from State Houses to Washington. Without Congressional action we are forced to endure rule by Executive fiat and the whiplash of competing perceptions. Gerrymandering gives power to minority views, sustains extremism, and thwarts the will of the majority. The Country's immigration laws impact all our lives, not just those of the undocumented.
The Supreme Court will again hear argument regarding the constitutionality of gerrymandering in the current session. Let’s all hope and pray that the nine learned soles who serve to protect and uphold the founding principles of representative democracy recognize gerrymandering for what it is; a corrosive cancer on our Republic.
7
Trump will do anything to distract from Fire and Fury. He did with Jerusalem. This is the same thing. He doesn't care who it impacts.
7
Where is the real outrage? This is not a conversation. It is monstrous.
1
Let's not forget to remind Trump and his regime that their time in office will be very temporary. VOTE!
4
Homeland Security website: TPS is a temporary benefit that does not lead to lawful permanent resident status or give any other immigration status. However, registration for TPS does not prevent you from:
- Applying for nonimmigrant status
- Filing for adjustment of status based on an immigrant petition
- Applying for any other immigration benefit or protection for which you may be eligible
7
How many TPS beneficiaries work at Mar-a-Lago, or for other Trump properties?
7
Let's be real what the Trump administration's real motivation is here: 200,000 less brown people means 200,000 less Democratic votes.
4
They aren't citizens, and therefore do not vote.
2
I become more heartbroken over these unrealistic and mean policies. I winter in Mexico, and am now ashamed to say I am from the U.S.
6
All of this drama is so that republicans can use these people and DACA to negotiate funding for the border wall
7
This should help destabilize El Salvador even more and present a security problem for the USA. Per the usual this administration thinks they are playing checkers instead of chess.
4
I once thought we were a compassionate country.
3
The Salvadorans no doubt contribute more to the humanity of America than does Donald Trump.
6
So now Donald Trump and the Republicans in Congress are going to send 200,000 people back to El Salvador. People try under extreme distress to make it the United States to make a better life for themselves and then the government hits them in the face with a sledge hammer by sending them back to a very dangerous country, right back into the tumor that they just tried to escape from. You know everyone answers to somebody and Donald Trump and the Republicans will have to answer to God someday, if not a course correction occurs before then.
1
The self-proclaimed "genius" indeed pushes limits in the lowest reaches of human behavior: excessive stupidity, constant harm to the most vulnerable populations, extreme delusion about his own capacities, over-inflated sense of entitlement, absolute disregard for basic norms of decency, rationality and above all truth. No wonder his awed admirers are so many. If he was not so obviously deranged, on could only explain his wholesale destruction of anything that actually makes America great as the work of a foreign enemy agent.
2
Always remember, that what will be Americas loss will be the rest of the worlds gain.
2
Was there no way for these people to become citizens of the US?
2
This is criminal and a moral breakdown of who we are as Americans. The shame and pain we are inflicting to good people for no reason other than to support a racist base that Trumpp needs to keep happy, will come back to haunt us if we do not fight against it. I cannot recognize the people in the government supporting these deportations and the voters that support these people in the government as true Americans. They are zealots who have no memory. They are not America patriots. They will pay in life for all this.
1
Looking at many of the comments it seems that we should forget about any immigration laws or policies and have completely open borders. Anyone should have the right to walk into the US and have a complete right to stay or at least that is what is being stated. Further, if anyone disagrees the race card is trotted out.
22
Once again, we did not think this policy through. Due to birthright citizenship, the affected population is double the 200,000 who will need to leave. El Salvador is experiencing net out-migration of 40-50,000 per year, so there might be some ability to absorb these people over three or four years. The total population of El Salvador is 6.4 million, so this is about 3% of the population. Imagine 10 million new immigrants in the US in two years. Still, this administration has to be applauded for taking the risk of bringing these problems into the open, while other administrations have kicked the can down the road. Will Congress get courageous and do the right thing, instead of their policy of not so benign neglect?
10
“Countries that have received and then lost the designation in the past include Bosnia and Herzegovina, which endured a civil war in the 1990s, and Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia during the Ebola crisis.”
Please give more reporting on how the process really works. How many came from those countries, how long were they protected here, how did they earn livings, how many were forced to leave, how many stayed illegally, how many achieved legal status, how many children were involved, what conditions did those forced to leave re-encounter. Need facts.
11
Trump takes yet another mulligan! Donald campaigned on, and prmised, that he would grow the economy. However, in his latest "genius" move, he has suddenly decided that our economy should instead shrink. Seems as if he's given up rather than work towards America's success. Is Trump finally exhausted from all that winning? It sure is starting to seem as if we elected a deceiver and quitter as our President.
Are you paying any attention? The economy is growing.
5
Trump says, Trump demands, Trump insists. Does this Reality TV show host think government is reality TV?
Trump dictates, America obeys. All hail our great "leader"...
2
Really! What has happened to the American spirit of welcoming those who need us and enjoying their contributions to the progress of our nation.
Will we be proud to be a part of something that hurts so many? I don’t think so.
We are proud when we help and now is the time! Dreamers please stay. Citizens be good Americans!
7
Why can't they apply to be citizens????
1
The way I read it is that the government was actually very compassionate in officially looking the other way when hundreds of thousands of people illegally entered the country after a natural disaster. I suppose we can argue about whether seventeen years is enough time for one to recover, but it look generous on the surface.
What could we have done or can we do differently to mitigate this problem? I think there are two possibilities. First, we could have deported them immediately upon discovery. It would have been entirely legal and rather harsh. Alternatively, we could have let them stay. Now that they've had significant time to recover, they have the option to return to El Salvador permanently or pursue ordinary legal status in the United States. Is there a problem with option 2?
15
These people are NOT here illegally, so when they work or buy homes or groceries, they pay taxes -federal, state and local, and they make social security contributions. Read the NYT article about how many billions of contributions we will loose. Just give them a LEGAL way to live here and work —they don’t want to be citizens. If they break the law or commit crimes, they can be deported - just like other “legal residents” ...
6
Some came illegally. Most were given a legal status and work permits. They pay social security and taxes. Either way, I do agree that they need an immediate path to citizenship.
4
I'm a liberal and when a country takes you in as a 'temporary' resident, it doesn't mean you can stay forever. These people should have been sent home years ago, instead of ignoring that pesky word 'temporary' in their status. Also, not all of these people were granted temporary status legally, but entered the country on a tourist visa and never left, and are thus here illegally. I'm tired of hearing my fellow progressives whine and cry when we try to enforce our immigration laws. I lived in Europe for three years and many people were deported for being undocumented immigrants. Even Canada deports people who migrated to the country legally.
30
USA should scrap by birth citizenship. Children of legal immigrants should get the same visa or residency status of their parents. They should get citizenship (by birth) once their parents get citizenship get citizenship.
Yes, USA can and should absorb people from problematic areas of the world. But let’s be practical- think how many people get affected, how many and what type of tiny fraction of those affected people get shelter in developed countries like USA. It’s mostly the elites (who are mostly corrupt and a socio-political liability for the host nation as well) and few well connected ‘normal’ people get the benefit and not most others helpless ones. USA is not responsible for utter corruption and mismanagement of those countries. USA must not be held responsible to share the burden.
24
you are totally right. only natives will stay. you will be the 1st to leave
4
Sorry but no Crazy. My forbears all came from Europe.......Italy and Spain, had papers had sponsors here. Learned the language and went on to become legal American Citizens. They did not cross borders illegally many came through Ellis Island. Naturally my parents became American citizens as their parents took the oath and followed the rules. This program was meant as a to be a temporary fix not a permanent thing. Do you even know the difference?
6
The right to citizenship for anyone born in the USA or its possessions is enshrined in our Constitution. It doesn't matter if someone's parents entered the USA illegally. being born here makes you a citizen.
3
At some point, USA has to close its borders and enforce immigration laws. Only those people should be allowed whom USA needs and who can be a productive part of American society. USA and other western democracies need to start a value or ethics test before granting residency permit (green card) and citizenship – to screen those immigrants who actually believe in the American way of life and, most importantly, constitution of secular democracy.
Such temporary immigration status is a ticking time bomb and destined to be exploited by a section of immigrants, both legal and illegal, and political parties. Politics using minority sentiment needs to be discouraged- mainly by Democrats who are more interested to use them as vote bank. Mass amnesty of illegal immigrants is a mockery of our laws and an insult for legal immigrants who are patiently waiting to get Green card and American citizenship.
23
[Bonku:] "Only those people should be allowed whom USA needs and who can be a productive part of American society."
These are some of the salient traits embodied by the American pioneers, the people who built America:
• Ambition
• Courage
• Tenacity
• Endurance
• Determination
• Stamina
• Hard Work
• Resilience
• Long Term Vision
• Wisdom
• Self Reliance, belief in themselves
• Wherewithal to confront and defeat bad laws, specially about Immigration.
• Refusal to surrender, to quit and go back -defeated- to their native lands
Lo and behold, if they aren't the exact same virtues possessed by the Indocumentados!!
Small wonder America wants them so badly...
3
Learning and speaking basic English should also be a requirement for citizenship.
9
That may exclude much of the South. Illiteracy is pervasive.
1
Why can't people in these programs use the time that they are here to become citizens? They all seem to be waiting for a free ticket to citizenship with out any effort. They have had plenty of time.
14
Because there is no legal way for them to become citizens (short of marrying a US citizen).
2
Because different visas have different rules attached to them. Majority of visas issued by US are temporary, with no path towards permanent residence and citizenship.
The only exceptions to the rule are (that I am aware of):
- H-1B (employment) it is a dual status/purpose visa where you can intend to stay in US while holding it. You have to be sponsored for it by a company. Only exception are "extra ordinary aliens", think Einstein who can petition by themselves. Once you are on H-1B a company has to sponsor you for green card through employment, but that usually means you have to stay with the same company for several years, and they have to prove that no US citizen can do your job.
- F-1/J-1 it's a student visa/exchange visitor visa. Sometimes when you earn your M.S., Ph.D. or M.D. and are able to either transition to H-1B, or in rare instances go straight for the green card through the "extraordinary alien path".
Other than refugees or asylum seekers for everyone else the only way to change their status from temporary stay to permanent stay in the US is to get married (and that is only for people who are in US on legal status, think H-1B, F1, J1, or other long term visa). For everyone else the only option is the diversity lottery, or going home.
Also having children who are born in U.S. has no bearing on one's immigration status. A child can be a U.S. Citizen, but parents cannot use that to change their status to permanent residence. The anchor baby is a myth.
5
You realizing he is just throwing these issues back to our do-nothing Congress which has avoided immigration issues at all costs for the last 30 years.
It is proper that they would make some decisions, and fix broken laws. And proper that Trump's Admin would enforce existing laws.
Your turn, Congress.
WR
8
When a jobs fair was held at one of the hotels on Hilton Head Island last spring not one potential employee showed up! And most of the service businesses like absentee home owner maintenance, yard care and maid service depend on legal immigrants like those who have been here for years under the "temporary" amnesties. Even so, the country clubs have relied on using special visas for people from Jamaica who were allowed to come for six months at a time and even people from as far away as Ukraine and Poland. It is rumored that Mar-a-Lage is dependent on special visa workers. Will DJT cut all workers off except those he relies on? (And similarly, note on the off-shore drilling maps that the 25 mile limit seems to protect all the waters near his eastern Florida clubs).
3
Wow, the big tough guys in the Trump administration can now add Salvadorans to Haitians, Nicaraguans and Hondurans on the list of people they have pushed around and mistreated.
And if you don't think that's true, ask yourself this: if the "conditions" in El Salvador change again due to another natural or political disaster, do you really think the Trump people will let 200,000 of them into the US for protection?
15
They should have used their time here to apply for citizenship instead of waiting around for a free pass.
6
If the Salvadorans were Swedes, Trump would buy them all flowers and beg them to stay.
26
Is there any sort of issue with violent Swedish gangs, discrimination against native born Americans in favor of bilingual Swedish speakers, or Swedish illegal aliens bedecked in the Swedish flag telling American citizens what they won't tolerate?
No.
14
"Swedes," as you so sweetly put it, live in what is at the moment a better country.
2
"Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
We can all be proud that the golden door has been slammed shut and the Mother of Exiles has had her lamp extinguished. Sad!
12
They were granted TEMPORARY status not PERMANENT. Do you know the difference between the two?
13
About time a POTUS is looking after the citizens of this country. Neither Bush or Barry had the backbone to make such decisions. It is about time for the world to know that we are not the local charity for the consequences of problems they do not resolve, such as crime and gangs. Spend your money on solving these problems, not on supporting corruption and graft among the political elite.
27
Those, "gangs" and "corruption and graft among the political elite" are a direct result of yet another stupid republican president name Ronald Reagan and his 'illegal' war in Central America. Try reading a book would ya?
7
Try reading (if you're able) some history of US involvement in Latin American countries. 'The world' knows a lot more about the criminal past of the US than the illiterate deplorables do.
6
These people statistically work, study, raise good children. As well as 800,000 DACA recipients. As well as H1B Indian and Chinese programmers. As well as Canadian nurses. Chaldean immigrants from 50 years ago. The list goes on. America needs these people. To work hard, to innovate, to bring new ideas, to be consumers. Deportations are expensive too. The impact on economy will be devastating.
Please think about that dear leader if you don't have a heart.
20
Maybe they should just apply to become citizens?
2
I am a naturalized US citizen. It took around 6 years to go through this process. My job could afford to hire immigration lawyer. I hope it helps.
3
Another nefarious Republican ploy to change the electorate equation, without regard to the consequent human suffering of the deported and their families or to the economic loss to the US from the work these industrious individuals perform.
8
For everyone who is in agreement with putting the T back in TPS: Why? Why does it have to be an absolute temporary arrangement? For these Salvadorans, this is their home. They work, they educate their children, they pay taxes, and they contribute to the economy. A path to citizenship is the right thing to offer those who have not taken advantage of our hospitality. If any are criminals, then deportation should certainly be addressed, but not to those that have worked hard to make American their home. This is the humane thing to do...it's the American thing to do. Anything less is shameful.
15
Because the TPS program was sold to Americans back in 1990 as providing TEMPORARY refuge to specific classes of aliens. Which aliens? Illegal aliens and/or those with visas that were soon to expire. The vast majority of Salvadorans were in the country illegally at the time Bush granted them TPS in 2001.
Since then, TPS has become a back door way to grant amnesty to large groups of illegal aliens. That's why there is renewal after renewal after renewal ad nauseum long after the circumstances for granting TPS in the first place are no longer around.
We did not agree to a de facto amnesty program!
3
It's impressive that the GOP and Trump administration are sticklers for the letter of the law. Laws that they personally disregard, bend and break with impunity. No wonder the targets of this heartless and inexplicable racism (Trump's base can probably explain why this pogrom is "necessary") are fearing the worst. Everyone needs to fear. First they came for the Constitution and the rule of law, then the Salvadorans, then the...rest of us. Saying something is not enough either. How about a national convention of Democrats, Liberals and anti-Trumpers? Like the alt-right convention but for the rest of us? Get some positive publicity, try to organize into some kind of coherent umbrella structure, develop some candidates and do something in 2018 and beyond?
11
My God... the program is Temporary Protection Status, the key word Temporary and the people from these countries were here illegally to begin with and given temporary amnesty because of an earthquake in their country. Did they not understand it would end and they would need to go home? Why have they not made any attempt to become permanent residents or citizens in all this time? Stop the attacks on this administration for enforcing the laws in our country. Send them home!
34
Lynching was not a Federal crime until 1965 when the Civil Rights Act was passed. Miscegenation was also a crime. The Laws of the USA once had me as equal to 0.6 of a white man. The list of once legal atrocities is long. This law, about to be enforced against Salvadorans, is in need of change.
5
Because there is no legal way for them to get permanent residency or the citizenship. They are stuck being "temporary" unless they marry a US citizen or immigrate through some other means. You are saying it as getting a permanent residency is easy, but if you're not an academician, or don't have lots money to begin with, getting permanent residency is near impossible.
1
“People who put principles before people are people who hate people. They don’t much care about how well it works, just about how right it is … they may even like it better if it inflicts enough pain.” ― John Barnes
10
Neither a justice system nor a society can work unless principles come before people. It has nothing to do with hating people. It has to do with impartiality and fairness.
7
That's the poor excuse people who believe that in order for some people to “win/succeed”, others MUST fail. Game theorists call this a “zero-sum” game. It has been demonstrably, scientifically, disproven.
Forcing people to leave honorable lives, friendships, homes, careers, relationships (e.g. their American Citizen children?) that they have built with honesty, good will, hard work, and gratitude... in order to preserve.... exactly what? ... “justice”?...
Oh well. Jesus summed it up nicely with “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.“ ... a day of rest is an excellent principle, and yet, pulling a trapped and miserable sheep out of a ditch on a Sunday – putting the shepherd (and the sheep?) in clear violation of sacred principle – is the right thing to do.
Those who do not understand the nature of this may not think they hate people, but they are very much in the service of those who do. And the kicker? The people who insist on using “principle” to punish individuals who do not deserve to be punished... overwhelmingly identify themselves as “conservative” and “Christian”. They are neither.
2
Oops! That opening sentence should have said: That's the poor excuse EMPLOYED BY people who believe that in order for some people to “win/succeed”, others MUST fail.
It's all about control of the minorities, the non-Americans, those who are stained and inferior because they aren't white or Americans. In other words, this is coming across as a racial issue in my eyes. One more instance of the Trump administration using prejudice as their guide in determining policy.
These immigrants are hard workers who need to be given a chance at becoming US citizens. Is there no compassion within the Trump administration? Are they cold-hearted, without an ounce of compassion or love for their fellow human?
Trump and his cabal of bigots in the administration and within the GOP are as un-American as anyone I've ever seen. Everyone in the US an immigrant, unless you're a Native American. Many of our ancestors came here illegally. What about Trump's heritage? Oh, I get it... it's all about being a WASP, being wealthy or brown-nosing it to be within the inner circle to have access to the <1%. (That was sarcasm, in case someone is now on the defensive.)
If Trump and his gang are so concerned about the law, then maybe they need to pay attention to the laws they've already broke regarding the Russian debacle and anything else they've been hiding.
13
It appears from this article that while "temporary status" Salvadorans are comfortable in the US there allegiance is to there HomeLand. Most interviewed in this article don't speak English after being here for over 20 years and I was struck by one picture of a home graced by the Flag of El Salvador next to the Stars and Stripes. In over 20 years they appear to have made no effort to gain citizenship and show no interest in our Constitution or history.
While I feel sorry for them fact is that the US has not only been good to and for them, we've poured over $4billion into their homeland which remains one of the most dangerous places on the planet. Add to this the over $4Billion in remittances the Temporary Status visitors just in 2016. I feel sorry but giving them all citizenship or a path too it is not the right solution. If they stay they should give up the right to vote, their American Born children should not be permitted to invoke chain migration and the fact that the average Salvadoran woman has over 6 children during her life needs to be addressed, no I'm not suggesting sterilization my lib dem friends.
32
Unfortunately for the Salvadorans, by registering, following the rules and being actually legal under the program that allowed them in made them easy targets for an administration that prides itself on its ability to be a bully. They're easy to find and its a nice showy gesture to the "Know Nothing" nativists that flock to Trump.
In terms of the idea that jobs are being "stolen" by illegals, that is also another lie. Crooked employers, looking for easily exploited workers give them jobs. The only thing those employers are looking at is a way to increase their bottom line at the expense of American workers. Those undocumented workers are simply another set of victims, the 21st century's version of slaves.
14
The last 2 Republican presidents we've gone from " compassionate conservatism" to demonic conservatism. I don't recognize our country. The democrats MUST control congress in 2018. Our only hope.
14
I believe your Hope in the Democratic Party regaining control of anything ever again is misplaced. The Democratic Party was dealt a fatal blow in Nov 2016. It is now a lumbering dying dinosaur that will hang on for 20 - 30 years before rolling off a cliff.
Your Hope is probably in a much better place if you would concentrate on forming a new Party which would pull together many disaffected voters, maybe actually work for those voters rather than making promises to the 1%.
Maybe like the Republican Party of the mid-1800's. Ironic, yes?
2
I'm the grandchild of immigrants - wonder when they will get to me.
Oh, wait - my grandparents were white - I'm safe.
This country keeps moving, slowly but inexorably,closer to the alt right white nation.
On the whole these people contribute in a positive way to this country.
Give them the chance to become citizens .
5
They have the chance to become citizens but they must apply instead of waiting for the free pass.
8
They don't, they are explicitly forbidden from applying for permanent residency or citizenship because of their immigration status.
2
This is incorrect. They have always been free to apply for a green card or for citizenship on the same terms as anyone else.
Sad, but not everyone can come here. Go home and rebuild YOUR country. We should help them...but really, why are we all of a sudden a depository for everyone, rich and poor, young and old. How about folks rebuilding in their home countries.
Having said what I said above...this is a BAD decision...these folks have been here too long. I'm sure they consider themselves Americans now...as certainly their children are Americans.
WRONG decision...should have been done years ago if it was going to be done. This is why we need immigration reform. We have to close the borders...finish the wall Bush and Obama started.
9
It will take some decades to rebuild the country that your hero Reagan destroyed with his illegal war and all that corruption. The USA also ships tons of weapons and brings drugs through el Salvador as well as ships hundreds of gang members grown and raised in our inner cities to their small country. Yet, you bigots come on here and complain when they wish to flee what you conservatives have made for them in their country?
1
"...officials in the Trump administration say the only criteria the government should consider is whether the original reason for the designation — in this case, damage from the earthquakes — still exists."
Kind of like saying, "OK, the flood waters have receded, now you can go back into the house that's now on fire. Good luck, and God bless."
2
This seems to be driven by the MS-13 gang and others. Seems far too reactionary to deport an entire demographic group in response, that have been here this long and out of trouble.
3
Let’s talk about Europe for a minute.
Until recently, the UK was a part of the EU, which meant, among many things, that UK citizens were free to move to, say, the Netherlands and live and work there.
But now things are going to change, and it is hard to say just how. But the Dutch have rules about who can apply for permanent residency.
First, you must speak fluent Dutch. You will be tested. It goes without saying that you must be literate in Dutch.
Second, you must be integrated into Dutch society. You send your kids to Dutch public schools, you live in a Dutch community, not off with a bunch of ex-pats. Good facts: you attend a Dutch church or social organization; you work in a Dutch company; you have native Dutch family members. There is no birthright citizenship.
Third, you must pass a rigorous test, something like our tests for citizenship, on Dutch government and society. Of course you cannot be a criminal.
How many of these Salvadorans, even the model (and photogenic) citizens dug up by the NYT, could pass all these tests? (Or any of them?). People who have lived in this country for 17 years who cannot speak English? They may well, for the benefit of reporters, “consider the US their home,” but if so, why do they not speak the language? Learning a new language isn’t rocket science. In Europe almost everyone speaks two or three, and Europeans are not on average smarter than we are.
The Dutch are just being honest. Maybe we should be too.
24
Most of these people are under educated and read and write basic Spanish. You think they have time working two jobs to study English? Who said this was an English only country anyway? It is not written anywhere in any laws.
Richard, We can not promote and provide a Balkinized nation. English is the official language of the US. It is necessary to get ahead and be educated in here. We must all be capable of communicating in one and the same language. Teaching immigrant children in their first language is also wrong in so many ways. Not to forget the costs that ESL classes take away from ordinary American kid's educations.
5
No, jm, teaching children in their native language, or in a language other than English or even in more than one at a time, is not wrong. I have a criticism of traditional ESL that is opposite of yours. The traditional ESL approach starts in the native language, it's true, but then it switches over completely, abandoning the native language and never bringing it up to academic levels, where the child could eventually take college-level classes and beyond in that language. Being able to speak more than one language is such a gift and we had been throwing it away. Now, the trend is dual-language where both native-English speakers and children who only speak the second language are taught in both, with the aim of making them truly bilingual and biliterate.
I wrote about it here recently in Houston:
https://thebuzzmagazines.com/articles/2017/08/breaking-barriers
Only one federal court in all the country has to TRO it and enforcement will be stayed for years of appeals with zero funding provided. 45 has already moved on to his next Happy Meal. Relax. It’ll never happen.
I know it's a complicated situation but in the simplistic mind of Trump this deportation is about Trump getting accolades from his base. He needs a constant source of applause and he knows what buttons to push to get them. This inhumane action is one such button. He leads by anger and his base loves it.
5
Maybe that is your Truth, but look at these situations this way - past Presidents kicked the can down the road instead of dealing with the situations. Now that a President is showing a remedy for past mistakes, you think this is an unnecessary disruption to your status quo. Sorry Snowflake for the disruption.
5
Am I suppose to feel sorry for these businesses taking advantage of people, knowing they pay low wages and benefits. They willingly admit that no American would work for those conditions. Thats whats wrong with corporations and businesses, you caused your own problems and guess what the people are tired of it.
11
Why does Trump & his administration feel the need to inflict pain & suffering on so many that clearly do not represent a threat to our country? People that have worked to build a life & become a part of our country.
The U.S. loses and these folks lose - after 17 years clearly they have found a way to support & participate as a contributing members of our country.
When there are other options, Mr. Trump so often takes the path of hatred, creating a stench that impacts us all.
5
It's called sadism. They get off on it.
1
This is cruelty for cruelties sake and as with most of Wile E. Coyote's ingenious plans it will only appeal to the basest members of his base. The rest of us will feel our hearts torn asunder as we watch innocent children being ripped away from their families and deported to countries that do not want and cannot support them. Countiless human rights violations will stem from this abuse and it reveals the lie behind the conceit that we are a "Christian" nation. How can we call ourselves "Christians" yet be so completely devoid of empathy and completely indifferent to the suffering of other human beings which we casually inflict upon them?
4
Trump is playing to the nativist part of his base. These people are part of the economic fabric of our nation. Many do jobs that Americans do not want. Trump's core will cheer at the heartache that these people will suffer.
3
Guess I'm curious as to what part about "TEMPORARY protected status" was ambiguous?
18
The demographics indicate that the burden of paying for the current recipients of Social Security falls on ever fewer workers as the population ages and more of us draw the benefits for which we have paid over our own working years. You who think that hard-working immigrants who are paying taxes should be kicked out would do well to consider who will be paying for *your* Social Security when *you* retire. News flash: it's not going to be those native-born white Americans sitting around on disability and zonked on opioids.
We like our immigrants white, educated, and already speaking English, don't we; but we also need people who have come from adversity with nothing but the shirts on their backs and a lot of grit, people who seize the opportunity for themselves and their children, who are willing to work, willing to become educated, willing to pay taxes. We have two options: accept both kinds of immigrants--the skilled ones to immediately enrich our country's intellectual treasure, and the less-skilled to provide a work force that pays for social Security today and tomorrow even as they grow a second generation that will produce doctors, lawyers, and business-owners--OR accept the Trumpublican sham-plan of deporting the folks who help pay for Social Security and then claiming that Social Security must be abolished because we don't have a big enough work force to pay for it.
9
This is clearly an easy bone to throw at 45's base. Makes them think that Trump is doing "something" when in fact it's just shockingly mean-spirited, misguided and unnecessary.
7
Excellent! And a hearty "covfefe" to all of you.
3
What's the lesson here? Never trust the Trump administration. It nearly always goes back on its word.
6
Donald the Destroyer has struck again. He continues to roll up a mind blowing track record for destroying, ruining or harming decent people's lives. The only question remaining in his newly minted wealth-fare state - Which billionaires stand to extract more wealth from this one?
5
The Trump administration knows nothing of humanitarianism or compassion. They certainly know how to destroy the best of what America should be. If this proposal goes through, those who claim that immigrants have taken away their job prospects will have no more excuses. I'll be looking for the unemployment rate to drop precipitously.
3
Many Americans voted for Trump because he is pro-life. Trump values human life? Nope. Not at all.
5
Great real people. The US in its generosity gave these people 15 years of a good life. It didn`t promise them eternal residence or citizenship. Now that time has ended and we should get back on track.
14
Give me your tired, your poor. Period. End. We are told that the job problem in our country is that there are not enough to meet demand. And with Donald’s great intelligence he decides. this based purely on spite from the alt right, his base. 2018 can’t get here fast enough.
3
I wonder how many white people who now live in the USA are here because their relatives came here illegally. Probably millions!!! If you want to end the program, end it, but sending back people who have found a new and better life in the USA should be allowed to stay. I love my country and this present group of Republicans, executive and congressional, make me so deeply sad and upset as I suspect many my fellow Americans feel. The country has gone to the " Dark Side" and I can only pray it will return to a more compassionate nature for my grandchildren. As a 70 year old white male it will probably be too late for me.
5
I understand wanting to reign in illegal immigration, but the move to stop legal immigration is a direct attack on our values. The continuing display of making America great by abandoning it's values of give me your tired, your weak....reigns supreme in these heartless times. The humanitarian crisis still remains in El Salvador. It ranks in the top for homicides each year. Many of those who will deported will have to take along their American born children and put them in jeopardy. Trump is succeeding in making America cruel, greedy, and bleak.
3
Immigration needs comprehensive systematic approach.
Guest visa program for low qualification seasonal work made seamless for employers. Punishing employers that hire illegal immigrants, eVerify,
Legalization of the least harmful drugs will drive international mafias smuggling drugs out of existence and this kind of "immigration" will stop.
Easy and seamless process for educated immigrants of desired professions, student visa of a good graduate to work permit.
Systematic approach for former illegal immigrants.
The Great Wall of Mexico is dumb. People overstay visas more than go through the fence. Immigration from Mexico is negative for years.
5
Speaking as the devil's advocate... Our loss may be El Salvador's gain.
Approximately 1 in 6 Salvadorans live in the U.S. By all accounts, they are well behaved, law abiding, productive citizens, although many still do not speak English well. In El Salvador the biggest problems are drugs, gangs and violence, and a large injection of people with American values may be just what the country needs. I hope we continue to support them in their home country.
I also hope the quick exit they must now make is not used as an opportunity to take advantage of them. For the record, I would much prefer a legal path to citizenship.
2
How do we stop this? This is un-American.
6
What good will this do? I live my life day to day and not once....not once....did I say to myself "Wow, we need to get these Salvadorans out of the country". This is just mean.
7
That's my point. What suddenly made this such an urgent priority? Has everything else of importance been checked off the to-do list?
3
I used to tell my salvdorean friends about ten years ago, i would go with them back to their country. one woman said her family had a small "finca" farm with a giant mango tree. i could lay in the tree all day and eat mangos. now my spanish is good enough, but all such dreams have passed me by. It was extremism to allow more and more undocmented immigrants to come across in recent years, and it is extremism now to pull the rug out from under the TPS people. It's like the abortion issue for years here. There is no middle ground, and it is tied to the catholic church. Both anti abortion and anti border wall folk should realize that you have to compromise, give to ceasar what is ceasars and give to god what is gods.
1
For those quick to label this move as racist, xenophobic, etc. consider this - Your neighbors house burns down. You do what's right and take them in. The neighbor likes your house better and doesn't want to leave. They also had some kids while staying with you. It's the only home they know. Do you let them move in permanently?
13
On the Statue of Liberty it says:
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”
She must be crying for us now.
5
Being part of a Democratic leaning demographic is a sin punishable by deportation these days. There is no low Republicans won't go in their desperate attempt to cling to power.
2
If that really happens, we should send the
Statue of Liberty back to France. We would
no longer deserve it.
5
At this point, deporting these people is nothing short of racist. They are no drain on the economy and actually contribute to the economy. But they also contribute to the native born population and therein lies the problem. They have little brown babies that grow up to vote against people like Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump. If the claim is its gone on too long, the solution is not to destroy these people's lives. But that is what governments love doing. Particularly the Trump run twitstorm. They love to flex their muscle against the most vulnerable. All bullies do.
5
If only we had stopped all the German immigrants that Ben Franklin railed against, we would not have all this hatred of The Other.
3
This is an un-American act.
Denying American history, defiling our traditions, turning our international reputation as the hope and salvation of the world into one of deliberate cruelty toward the weak. This is the genuine goal of Trump and the Republican Party. Trump and the Republican Party want to erase compassion, acceptance, and democracy.
Expelling 200,000 men women and children from America is a warning to all immigrants and all refugees. Expelling 200,000 innocent men women and children is a warning to all weak,poor, sick,elderly Americans and is an offense against basic humanity.
Of all the suspicions and evidence of crimes against our government and against democracy this abomination is the sentinel event, the betrayal that will be remembered.
What is America? Who are the Americans? Monsters?
3
I guess all the nice white retired folks here in Florida can now get jobs cutting greass, washing dishes and collecting trash for Waste Management.
11
What would Jesus do? I think the answer to that needs no explanation.
7
Do we understand what "temporary" means?
14
This action is simply over the top! I am not a medically qualified to diagnose, but, my god, whatever I read about a psychopath fits Trump to perfection. I mean, look at that mother and her daughter, how could anyone deport them back to a place the child has never known, and one filled with danger? And what is it with his Republican enablers? There is something terribly wrong with the entire Republican party, and a good many Democrats as well. We need a thorough cleansing of Washington. Can we please just start from scratch? As I go about my life, interacting with folks along the way, I know that this country is filled with good people. So, how did we end up with what we have in D.C.?
5
It's just playing the usual Trump hate card. Divide people, blow the white privilege dog whistle, and throw a few scraps to the deplorables. It's bad for those targeted and bad for the country. In addition to humanitarian concerns, this is a waste of human capital. These people are, in fact, what makes America great. Not again. But now and in the future.
4
It is as if the trump administration goes into a dark room each night to figure out what the most horrible thing they can do to people of color so they can appease Trump's base.
4
The current administration is a cold and heartless entity.
4
The key word in this program is "temporary". Why is it fellow liberals have such knee jerk reactions to regulating immigration?
14
Why? Why do this except to be an evil monster? I would love the Tr7mp adminstration to come to upstateNY and see the dying towns all around here. We could use more immigrants, people who come jere and buy homes, start small businesses, work and live here. My husband would love to start a small company, but there are no workers. We are dying in rural America, and people who could be welcomed here to bring us back to life, , like the Somalians have done in Utica, NY, are being shipped away.
Not just cruel and evil, but stupid. No sign of genius in DC right now.
5
More of trump and friends' ethnic cleansing- they understand demographics, and know that their base is old and white. They deprive the country of its creative youthful population, it postpones the time when the republicans are finally forced to change or disappear.
4
looks like #45 is looking to add to his DACA hostage list. No money for a wall from the USA. He said Mexico would pay, so please get them to write you a check.
1
Correction: El Salvador.
Just remember the optics of the Camp David press conference Trump had a few days ago. All old white men with one white woman. This is the picture of our country Trump wants. Such backward thinking.
7
Temporary does not mean 17 years
11
This was at the top of Trump’s list this week? Really?!
5
So cruel! Another group senselessly victimized by this administration. The news goes from bad to worse! Personally knowing numerous DACA, Salvadorians, and yet to come Honduranians, Haitians... every single one contributing positively to our economy, enriching our cultures, and strengthening MY own family’s values. SHAME ON YOU !
6
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
6
These are tax paying hardworking people so what is the point of sending them back? They contribute to our economy. I can't understand the ignorance and stupidity of this current administration. How long have republicans cried that there are not enough workers to cover current entitlements? Republicans make no sense.
7
We can reverse this cruel decision on Salvadorans by the destabilizer in chief.
Get very active election campaigns and turn over the Senate and the House in 2018. Join a resistance group at indivisible.org
3
"a fan of Disney movies and hip-hop music, said she could not fathom starting over in El Salvador".
They are not here to listen to hip hop and go to Disney, they are here to save money and help their own homeland country.
Am I sounding cold?
11
Yes. I believe that quote came from a child.
2
“ In Houston, the elimination of protected status would aggravate a labor shortage already delaying repairs after Hurricane Harvey”.
Could the NY Times dig on this?
I would like to know the reasons behind the shortage.
Could it be that “real” Anericans do not want the tough jobs immigrants are always willing to take...
5
*At those wages and conditions which are likely exploitative.
1
If you have been in the United States for two years illegally and have not gained legal status you are an illegal alien, not an immigrant.
10
Elections have consequences....making America great again, means making it more white....
1
For some it may be a death penalty.
9
This is an inhumane, disgusting policy change directed at a few Trump supporters that have issues with just about everything decent. The result of a bad promise made during a campaign absent of empathy just like the DACA decision.
Donald Trump and his complicit Republican supporters are becoming a stain on everything American. This is NOT who Americans are and the Christian right should be outraged at this decision.
Shameless, absolutely shameless.
5
I wonder if Mr. Krikorian would want to put the "T" back into T.P.S. if someone he loved was being sent back to violence ridden El Salvador? It is so easy to be heartless when something doesn't impact you or your loved ones.
4
Key work..... "TEMPORARY",
11
Absolutely shameful!
6
Are you Brazilian? No. Then why would you ever want to work as a cook in such a hazardous kitchen?
This is about a crazy person under investigation for obstruction of justice, likely money laundering, possibly collusion with a foreign power, pandering to his xenophobic base. It's a disgusting misuse and abuse of power. Such vile creatures roaming the White House, let's paint it another color and vote them out.
7
Rome had the Caesars and others and Carthage was the home of Hannibal. Brittaniia once ruled the World and Hitler was a General or two short of World conquest. None of these is any longer considered a force to be feared by any but the weak. The USA, a self proclaimed melting pot, is turning its back on history. Surely some must think that Trump is the only person who can strike up relationships with transient foreign born people. Deportation of Salvadorans will be costly to those young people returning to a land, foreign to them. Proponents of this race based deportation will also pay. Their cats will be skinned. They came for my neighbor and I did nothing. Whom is next? They've been raping my sisters and gunning down our sons for centuries. Deportation to instability is comparable as a threat to life. Trump and his gang of xenophobes continue to ignore the silent carriers of big sticks.
4
since my lib dem friends will jump all over my prior post which substituted the word "there" for their, consider the misteak (sp) corrected. Now, knock yourselves out.
1
Those leaning on the word temporary to defend deportation are using semantics to cover their cruelty. Programs and policies are living, evolving documents. If we truly intended for it to be temporary, then we should have made it so some time ago. As many pointed out, yes, the decision to end TPS status has been deferred for years. That’s on us. These are American families now, and they deserve to stay. Keeping hardworking American families together shouldn’t be in the partisan arena, it should be in the human rights arena.
5
But if you’re a wealthy investor who wants to put money into a new condo development such as a Kushner building as a means to help the developer cheaply finance, you and your immediately family and children up to age 21 are granted green cards from the US. Ten thousand of these are apparently put out yearly.
4
"He will have to decide whether to take his children to El Salvador, where he says they would not maximize their potential and would face safety threats; leave them with guardians in the United States; or remain in the country at the risk of arrest and deportation as one of the millions of undocumented immigrants."
Are legal channels of immigration denied to these people? Legal immigration processes to the U.S. clearly exist, why aren't they attempting to use them?
4
I agree w comments re Trump’s human cruelty and insanity. Question is how do we help them stay? Can we set up a sponsorship program ? I’d gladly sponsor a family.
4
What this wrong-headed piece may inadvertently accomplish is to effectively end life-saving US programs to take people on a temporary life-saving basis from nearby countries in the wake of natural disasters. If every "temporary" act of compassion turns into a permanent amnesty then the US would be better off providing relief elsewhere. Turning temporary disaster refugees into immigrants has a powerful impact on native American workers. The 200,000 will now be able to avail themselves of extended family reunification and turn into hundreds of thousands -- even millions within a decade or so. This group of "temporary" disaster relief beneficiaries will become unfair job competitors with our own American working poor and working class. Immigration is a zero-sum game, and this approach -- remembering the engines that drive immigration in our Kafkaesque dysfunctional system means the mass importation of poverty and low-skill labor to compete with our own most vulnerable fellow citizens and add mightily to the costs of welfare (right now 70% of immigrants are on at least two major welfare programs). We need to replace chain immigration with meritocratic criteria, and turning the Salvadorians into permanent residents is precisely the wrong way to go. As to the moronic comments about racism: most Hispanics regard themselves as "white," and as they succeed they will be seen as "white" by other Americans. Only 70 years ago Jews and Southern Italians weren't "white."
14
I am very much looking forward to the 2018 elections, so I can vote for candidates that will not tolerate the inhumane and self righteous thinking that this ruling represents.
I have confidence that like minded voters will send a message to Congress, that if you do not oppose these kind of rulings, your days are numbered.
2
Good. Enforce the law. Build the Wall first and we will talk about DACA. No wall, every last illegal must go.
9
Hmmm.... but they are not illegal. And hopefully you will recognize how complicated it is to displace immigrants that are righteous, hard working, caring HUMAN BEINGS, many are part of families that with be torn apart.
1
Donald John Trump!
NO!!
Now go to your room until you're ready to be treated as you would have others treat you.
5
Except for the Red Indian natives which you murdered by the thousands you are all immigrants. So be a bit more understanding and helpful.
8
The overwhelming majority of Black Americans are not immigrants or descended from immigrants. And because immigration was at a certain level in say 1913 does meant that it needs to be at that level or higher in 2018.
The US is the third most populated country in the world. We don't need more people.
5
On any subject matter, find the action that will harm the most number of people the most, and that's what the Trump administration will do.
8
In the sidebar story I read that due to the shortage of temporary status immigrant labor, "The company and its competitors have resorted to poaching each other’s project managers, engineers, welders and plumbers."
"Poaching" sounds like something to avoid but what it really means is that competition results in increased wages for American workers. Is that so awful? I don't wish harm on anybody. But am I a bad person for putting my family first, then my fellow citizens and THEN everyone else?
11
Curious to see the economic analysis of mass deportation of immigrants. Are we all ready to pay more for that plumber, carpenter, nurse, janitor, ect? Not to mention your food in general.
In the law there is a concept called "laches"--if you wait to long to bring a case and the defendant invests time, money effort to build something--well you can't tear it down, even if the defendant initially acted unlawfully.
In this case, the TPS recipients entered the US unlawfully. They came to improve their lives, which is understandable. For decades the US turned a blind eye and more came. Then something happened in El Salvador, or whichever other country received TPS, and the opportunity was created for TPS.
I think laches kicks in here, but I also think they should not receive full citizenship immediately...maybe 10 years down the road. I also think we have too much immigration and it has overwhelmed parts of the country. Uncontrolled immigration does not serve the national interest. Flooding the country with unskilled labor does not serve the national interest. Endless population growth does not serve the national interest.
The Democrats need to agree to end chain migration, visa lottery, the practice of buying visas (Kushners) and enforce e-verify in exchange for DACA and TPS folks staying. If the Democrats care about these people they will make a deal.
3
This is not a reversal of a policy; if it were, their status would be changed to resident alien, or whatever. They were allowed into this country on a temporary basis, and 16 years is a very long "temporary" stay. I don't see what there is to complain about. It is understandable that they got their hopes up. Should these 200k people be allowed to stay in the US? - it would be nice, but that was never on the table. Maybe with some pressure, they can stay longer, or even permanently. In the end though, this is a good example of following the law, for a change.
14
Speaking as someone who worked for years in social services with Hispanics, who lived for extended periods in Mexico and South America, who speaks Spanish and has a deep love for Latin American culture, I say we should guard against knee-jerk responses on this issue. I know many undocumented people who would jump at the chance to go home if conditions weren't so dire there. It is heartbreaking for them to be separated from aging and ailing parents; with sadness they watch their children grow up without extended family; they are always outsiders, work mostly menial jobs, are ignored or misunderstood if not despised. Those who respond here that they should be allowed to stay and work and pay taxes are assuming that this is the best they can hope for. What if the order to rescind the T.P. status were accompanied by creative measures that helped these returning Salvadorans to build a life back home? To take the skills they honed while here and create businesses and strengthen communities? To invest even more than the 17% that they already account for in El Salvador's economy? The U.S. needs to make amends for the chaos it unleashed on Central America in the past through disastrous drug and immigration policies, not to mention meddling in the politics. If we could do that by helping to restore the broken communities, sending Salvadorans home would be a humane thing to do. Not that I have any hope the current administration is up to the task.
8
I understand both sides of the argument on this issue and it seems one side lacks compassion and the other sides lacks understanding of the need to enforce the laws of the land and respect the humanitarian arrangement made to grant temporary shelter in the hour of need created by a natural disaster, in this case an earthquake that left their homeland devastated decades ago. For what the US did in allowing to get refuge during the life threatening period of one's life, I would expect any person who was helped to be eternally grateful. I have visited El Salvador and I was quite surprised how decent a place it was with very friendly people who could benefit from skilled Salvadorans who would willingly like to return to their motherland and contribute to the advancement of their motherland. If the conditions are not to their satisfaction or they do not find suitable opportunities, they should be able to apply for immigrating legally to the USA. Trump was elected by the US electoral college based on the promises he made and now one by one he has to try keeping his promises without causing any undue cruelty or inhumane treatment to individuals any person of any national origin, residing in the US. Our immigration policies are quite liberal and generous to provide asylum and refuge to any individuals who can make a case for themselves and millions of foreign born citizens reside legally in the USA and all it takes is providing truthful documentation for becoming a legal resident.
9
Something not mentioned; as a direct result of the hatred and nativism expressed and promulgated by DJT, attacks and violence against American tourists and expats in Latin America have increased dramtically this past year and continue to do so.
Tourism in Guatemala, Salvador, and the rest of Central America is greatly reduced and these governments refuse to acknowlege this alarming trend. The backlash has only just begun. I personally know of three Americans who have been run out of the communities they live in. The reports are all simllar in that they are mobs agitated by criminal elements who were detained and/or deported from the US.
I'm afraid it has only just begun. Cross cultural relations have never been worse in modern history.
5
There are hundreds of thousands of desperately poor Americans living in cities like Flint Michigan, South Chicago, South Central LA, Roosevelt NY who need good high paying jobs to fight their way out of poverty. But Democrats only seem to have a heart for non-Americans because there was a natural disaster in their country. Trump is right here. Please apply for permanent citizenship legally and properly. Don't just ignore the law and extend your stay and expect everyone to "have a heart."
15
I can't stop thinking about this. It's so heartless, so cold, so cruel and indifferent. I'm crushed. This isn't a country I can be proud of anymore. I'm heartbroken. And I'm so so sorry for the damage we're doing to families and communities. So sorry for the pointless suffering. We almost all came from immigrants. We think we have some special extra natural rights because we were born here earlier than another family? I've lost all my faith in the majority of Americans to do the right thing anymore. This cruelty and meanness seems to be spreading like a disease that can't be stopped.
4
Can anyone not help but notice that these you-have-to-get-out-now or you-can't-come-here-anymore laws seem to target mainly people of color? People who for the most part would not be likely to vote Republican much less for Trump if they could vote? You mean to tell me that there are NO illegal Irish, English, Israelis, or Aussies here? And let's not forget the Kiwis. Though their numbers may be small, some of them are here illegally, too. Where are the programs targeting these people? The administration is engaging in a type of political or electoral genocide -- a national gerrymandering if you will -- that is repugnant for all of the reasons stated by other commenters, but also has a more sinister side that is not being discussed, at least not yet. Think about this: If the many Hispanics and probably Haitians and other people of color here dubiously are doing the jobs that so-called real Americans won't do, who is going to do them when they're gone? Well, certain jobs -- e.g., agricultural work -- can be foisted on prisoners, especially now that this administration has decided to roll back the curtailment of the use of private prisons by the federal government. Other jobs may simply go away due to the increase of automation. And, some "Americans" may very well have to pick up the slack if tax reform doesn't create the thousands of jobs its promoters say it will.
8
The President is doing whatever he can to force Congress to create a comprehensive immigration law. All of the issues: DACA, H1B visas, now Salvadorans - belong in the same kettle, and the kettle belongs to Congress.
It would be very helpful if Congress would do its job and not cry about the victims-of-the-month. When Democrats seem to care more about non-Americans than Americans.......we get Republicans in office.
7
Forcing people who have been here for years -- people who have remade their lives from scratch and even raised families here -- to go *back* to their countries and start all over again would be incredibly cruel.
6
As the meme states:
We don't have an illegal worker problem.
We have an illegal employer problem.
Punish those who knowingly hire and exploit.
9
If you read the article, these people are here legally and have work permits. Their employers have done nothing illegal in hiring them. They are paying taxes.
4
No tall do have legal status, quite a lot came here on tourist visas and never left. Time for them to go back home.
1
Is it just? Is it right? Clearly not on both accounts. Opposing justice and doing wrong is what this president is all about.
3
This and other heart-rending, thoughtless, cruel, unnecessary, and simplistic decisions not only destroy the fabric of our country, but all trust in government. The Republicans in Congress are so cowardly and obsequious to Trump as to beggar imagination. What kind of country except Nazi Germany deports people after twenty years, and separates fathers and mothers from their children? What kind of country screams about abortion, and literally doesn't care if living children get murdered by gangs? What kind of hypocrisy is it to call the way the majority of Americans came here "chain migration" as though immigrants weren't humans with families? I will never believe another Republican or Evangelical Christian when they claim to be the party of the "family". We are a nation of hard-working immigrants, not rich, white, "selected" immigrants. Not oligarchs like Rupert Murdoch with no loyalty to any country, or Chinese and Saudi billionaires with the homes in the south of anywhere but the U.S. We need an actual immigration policy, not an expensive wall to nowhere, or the race-baiting dangerous, racist policies of Trump. In reality, he pulls out the Oh-My-God-Please-Don't Crisis whenever his credibility as president is questioned. Impeach now, Republicans, or lose even bigger in 2018. Truly sick and tired of being run like a Banana Republic by one party!
13
I've posted this before, but the NYT didn't publish it for whatever reasons which I find troubling since free speech should not have constraints if it is not offensive or violates TOS. This is what I posted: Ethnic cleansing ala Trump style. If you're Latino, Muslim, Black, Asian, or other non-white group, you are not an American in Trump's eyes. Native American Indians do not count as they are not really American or white. We all know he is a racist and bigot, we have seen it time and time again. Bet if these folks were Irish or from Eastern Europe, there would be no problem.
8
What happened to the sentiment of Neil Diamond's "Coming to America"? I am proud to attend a church where I am in a minority as we welcome Africans,Cambodians , Brazilians,... It is so sad we have a racist president.
6
If the Salvadorans wished to stay they could have (and many did) apply for US citizenship. They have had a long time to start or complete the process.
6
Temporary means temporary, not permanenr.
12
What has happened to the United States with this new draconian view of the American Dream? Is it applicable for only a certain kind of individual? Does being an American mean something different than what the Founders envisioned? A nation which accepts anyone who is willing to work hard to grab onto their particular piece of the American Dream pie. Equal opportunity for all, isn't that what it's all about? Am I missing something? When did "all" become a select few? When did it begin to exclude people who somehow do not "look", or "sound like", "real Americans"?
Since January 20th, the United States has taken a drastic step in the wrong direction. It is proceeding down a slippery slope. The criteria of whom we should allow to stay in the US now resembles a Darwinian selection of the fittest used in Nazi Germany. The difference is the United States has allowed these "foreigners" the right to leave, and not employed Nazi Germany's Final Solution to the immigration "problem". At least, for now.
DD
Manhattan
7
This is entirely based on ethnicity. But we can't be politically incorrect and say that Republicans--pols and voters--are racists and bigots.
4
I suppose you and the others who wish to make these people permanent have some reason to connect enforcing our laws to being racist and bigoted. Where were you when America took these people in........on a TEMPORARY status which everyone thought was tremendous?
11
I'm fully in support of comprehensive immigration policy, and enforcing it, as Obama did; but unlike this parasite, Obama did most of his work without constant self-congratulation and fanfare. Of course enforcing our laws does not make an American a racist: it's everything in between--from Roy Moore's accurate definition of MAGA, to the parasite president's accusation that a judge can't do his job because of his ethnicity--and the blind, unqualified support of his followers.
1
After WWII corrupt German and Russian officials, along with monied individuals who supported them, fled to South America, the United States of America and other "safe" countries. Some had connections and were helped to escape using their own names. Most changed their names and tried to hide their crimes against humanity and money.
They brought their hate and corruption with them and are now trying to reinstate the corrupt "model" that Hitler used to put the world in a state of war. While people were busy trying to survive and live they stole the wealth of governments through preposterous "weapons" contracts and taking over governments.
The Salvadorean people who moved here simply wanted jobs. They should stay.
WE THE PEOPLE should demand that anyone with German/Russian/catholic war-monger origins be shipped back to their ancestor's home country - AFTER we strip all the wealth they have stolen to pay for health care, education and infrastructure that benefits ALL Americans.
6
Wow invoking Hitler and Russians! This is the best Xenophobic and racist post yet!
The El Salvadorans affected by this decision are not being deported. They are being given until Sept 2019 to resolve their temporary status. I think that is not much time, but if they have been here for 17 years and have not resolved their status, bad on them.
12
Why do I get a feeling this is a favor to Bannon to have him back down on his remarks?
1
This is creepy and Nazi-ish, like cleaning out some Polish village because of a racial purity law. It has Miller's smell attached to it and undermines any influence we might have had over the Burmese's treatment of the Rohingya.
7
Time has come to mention the H word in the USA. Following Hitler´s steps in the elimination of basic human rights, an American Presidebnt has yesterday decided to transform a minority in outcasts. Salvadorans singled out as having to leave in 2019 are from today second class human beings in the United States. As such they are treated by the Government and will treated by the Trumpians determining the political agenda. So much for the memory of Eleanor Roosevelt´s fight to have a UN Human Rights Chapter. It is her country the one now commanding the fight against migrants and refugees.
4
I hope all the cut and dried, knee jerk naysayers (Trump-thought breed) find themselves in need of compassion and mercy from fellow humans some day.
And I hope you get the same ugliness and lack of empathy, intelligence and care thrown in your imploring face when that day comes.
What is wrong with you?
6
The famine in Ireland is over, so let's send all those Irish such as Kelly back to Ireland.
7
Hmm, had the Irish been let in to America on explicitly TEMPORARY terms, you would have a point. Absent that, you appear to engage in the kind of liberal magical thinking wherein worlds mean anything you want them to mean ( i.e. temporary resident status for Salvadorans is the same thing as permanent residency.)
4
Shut this government down.
6
Maybe it's time to deport the Irish from 5 generations ago, and the jews and catholics as well. Ethnic cleansing is upon us.
2
No, liberal hysteria is upon us. The Irish of five generations ago and plenty of other Catholics and Jews, too, came to this country and were given legal status that allowed them to stay permanently. The Salvadorans in question were given explicitly temporary status. As we all know or should know, temporary has an ending; it is the opposite of permanent. We should definitely halt the practice of allowing people to stay in the U.S. temporarily if a disaster hits their country if temporary status is just a pretext for amnesty.
11
Relax everyone and think for a moment. This was a temporary visa and we are not deporting anyone. No one is going anywhere for a year and a half. This is a bargaining chip to be used to create immigration reform. Everyone will end up staying.
10
USG policies cannot be run by anecdote. Either use TPS as designed, change the design, or end the program, but do something to make reality match program design.
Same for immigration overall. Either change the law, make undocumented people citizens, or deport them, but do something to fix things.
Having laws and procedures in place but ignoring them is intolerable. We're a nation of laws, so either change them or enforce them.
12
As with most things, delaying a difficult decision makes the end result more painful. The reason for granting temporary status has ended. If prior administrations had acknowledged that fact, the roots that these families have established in the USA would not be so deep. I agree with other comments, let these families apply for legal immigration just like the millions of others around the world who would like to make the USA their home. Why should these families have a preferred status over all the others who are equally, or more, needy who didn't have the chance to participate in TPS?
8
From the article right under this one:
"Another report, by the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, estimates that stripping the protections from Salvadorans, Hondurans and Haitians would deprive Social Security and Medicare of about $6.9 billion in contributions over a decade, and would shrink the gross domestic product by $45.2 billion." Another reason this decision by the Trump administration makes absolutely no sense.
2
For a White House team portrayed as so chaotic, I am impressed by how organized they function. They keep tackling long-standing festering messes and ask the Congress to (belatedly) act on them in the best interest of the American people. There is nothing wrong with that. This is something to be praised.
America has changed since 1965 when the last immigration act was passed, we sorely need an update that serves current interests and priorities.
What if we all kept the same software from 1965?
13
Based on the US actions in the UN, the US is more concerned about the living conditions in Iran than in San Salvador. These immigrants are contributing to the US economy, paying taxes, and seem to be good citizens. BTW- since the US is so concerned about the protestors in Iran, how many will be allowed to enter the US?
4
When do the voters hold their Congressional Representatives to do their jobs? This issue should not be that difficult to come up with thoughtful and responsible solutions. Decades old "Temporary Protected Status" designations clearly aren't temporary yet we've done nothing to remedy that preferring to stick our heads in the sand. I don't condone what the Administration is doing but at what point do our lawmakers stop just kicking the can down the road on everything?
6
TPS is just a band-aid - not a solution based on a strategy. The world is full of people living in the 3rd world. Almost all of these countries have major problems. Should the US allow all of these people to immigrate? The US needs to have a well defined permanent and temporary immigration policy that is enforced consistently across administrations. Between Obama and Trump, we have two Presidents who have vastly different interpretations on immigration. We need Congress to lead the way forward. A Canadian type immigration would probably be the best fit for the US with allowances made for TPS, DACA and other long-term immigrants, and for Trump a wall (for Presidential approval). But would anybody on Capital Hill buy this type of compromise?
6
The snide comments along the lines of "temporary means temporary" appear to be the shallow, uncomprehending right-wing talking point on this issue. Until Trump came along, Republicans and the business community (which needs these workers) continued to extend these protections indefinitely, effectively encouraging settlement. The answer to ending TPS, if this administration is so keen to do so, is 1. a clear path to permanent residency or citizenship for those with citizen children or roots here and 2. no new TPS designations or at least no new extensions. But since this Administration is merely racist and cruel, they make sure to hit the most vulnerable the hardest, putting it all on the backs of innocent, law abiding immigrants and demonizing them as moochers in the minds of the Fox/Breitbart crowd.
7
America should first do charitable acts against its own citizens. Reform pension, labor market, education and healthcare. Then it can care for Salvadore or Mexico.
9
Doesn't temporary mean temporary? I feel for these people and think that they should be allowed to stay, however their bet that their status would not change was simply unwise.
2
Regardless of "legality", there is basic compassion and decency that we as human beings, should show our sisters and brothers. The El Salvadorans in the US have suffered more than most of us will in our lives. This decision fills me with sadness.
6
The minute that any lawmaker will willfully set foot in an El Salvadoran neighborhood and live there for an extended period of time with their children and declare that they are comfortable and feel safe in doing so should be the time to allow this status to change and not before. Mr. Trump, the great deal maker, let's make a deal please and see if you can keep your end of it and do this with your family?
2
Millions of refugees in the world without food, care or anywhere to go, and the approach of the USA and western governments is to build walls, barriers and hate. We Americans can feel safe within our nice 'exceptional' civilization and keep the homeless and helpless at bay. I'm real proud to call myself an American.
2
That's 200,000 less votes for the Dems but a lot less votes for Trump and the Republicans. Erasing the last 15 years of someone's life just doesn't seem right. As well intentioned as the original law was, the current situation reveals a flaw in our response to the tragedy in El Salvador.
2
While I agree that temporary is temporary why did the US renew their status over and over, allow them to work, buy houses, become part of their communities and establish roots? After more than 10 years away how can they go back and leave a new US-given life behind? And what type of support is the US ready to give to the Salvadorian government to receive that huge influx of essentially immigrants? 200,000+ returning people would be a burden in the US, it is most likely a catastrophe for a small country.
4
Above all else, including compassion and empathy for fellow human beings, the rule of law must be maintained. It can be argued that the degree to which the rule of law is maintained in the US is the root cause why anyone would want to move here. It is directly responsible for our economic and social well being. What bothers me and apparently other people about the immigration situation is the amount of lawlessness that is allowed to exist. We need to get accustomed to taking collective decisions and enforcing our regulations. To do otherwise is inviting chaos.
4
If I were in another country on some temporary arrangement, I don't think I would then assume I could stay there permanently. As time went on, I believe I'd feel more and more insecure about the situation, and, at some point take some action on my own, so the foreign country didn't have to kick me out. The last thing I'd want to do is put down roots (family, career, etc.) that would have to be torn up when my temporary stay was up.
8
It is also referred to as personal responsibility.
2
When these people are able to work legally, they pay the FICA tax that funds Social Security, Medicare, and other programs. We need them. They not only send money back to their home countries, but they help to strengthen the economy here.
The parents of American citizens ought not to be deported. Is not keeping families in tact a family value?
Yet another reason to give control of Congress to the Democrats in November.
Send Trump home in 2020.
The United States is US. We get the government we deserve.
4
I'm baffled as to why people on TPS did not start the process of becoming citizens of the USA as soon as they realized how great they have it here; it has been about 18 years since it started. And they have 18 months to get start the process of applying to stay here.
5
Articles such a these that focus on the human interest angle are touching, but don’t provide the information the public needs to advance the policy debate. The stories of.a family or two and one employer are not enough to frame or reframe the policy debate. The broad assertion is being made that immigrants from this or that country disproportionately contribute to crime and thus need to go.
The New York Times can play an important role in informing the public by presenting statistical data which gives a better sense of who these people are, where they settled, what occupations they have, and their incarceration rates.
I trust that these data would helps how how El Salvadorans and others contribute to our communities.
4
with all that is broken in this country why go after people who are not part of the problem? It sounds like these folks are employed, pay taxes and contribute in a positive way to their communities. Why are they being targeted?
Sounds like most of them work which is more than a lot of the loads that were born here. My instincts tell me this is wrong...people aren't meant to be moved around like chess pieces....they came here, got jobs and homes and now we are kicking them out? I'm not sure how anyone can justify this.
3
Isn’t there a wall that’s supposed to be built? I’m disappointed. I thought we would at least see a conceptual rendering of “—?”, where the latest in sustainable architecture is brought to the purpose of a destination attraction. A global village of resorts and cuisines. The upper decks are for sunning and pools, the middle decks for accommodations, and lower decks are for intimate and family dining. The plaza level is for sports, entertainment, and urban gatherings. Spaces between the hubs? Long, late night strolls? Morning meditation? Education? What about future Olympics, international sports venues, a world destination, the eighth wonder of the world... high speed rail... the world’s longest boardwalk... the list goes on ... Grand!)
1
I, my father and grandfather before him have fought and defended this country. We don't want it defiled by people that have no stake in it and have no skin in the game as far as defending it.
The vast majority don't care about being American, they just want the benefits it provides. The people interviewed don't even care enough to have learned our language. Shameful.
Give me respectful, humble immigrants that respect the flag, our virtues and way of life. A family who wants to assimilate and help make this great country better and I'll usher them in myself. There is room for them and we need more of them.
THOSE are the type of great immigrants that built this great nation.
Not those who usurp our laws, dodge the police and take advantage of our generosity.
Some of us are feeling a little take advantage of. We want our rules enforced. When I step out of line, I can expect consequences, which I accept. Why is it any different for anyone else here?
7
I have a lot of questions after reading about the ending of this program, the major one being:In the years that have passed since the Salvadorans and others have become temporary residents, why have they not sought to obtain citizenship? For those here the longest, over 15years have passed, ample opportunity to assess the opportunity and take the necessary steps.
My heart breaks for those who have borne children here and now must move their families back to the land of NO OPPORTUNITY, El Salvador.
2
All those expressing shock surprise or calling for a logical or empathetic approach have clearly not been paying attention. This is what Trump's base want and what they voted for. This is him appealing to them. Norms went out of the window the day Trump entered the White House.
2
Who will do the real work of America when all of our productive, motivated people are sent to the docks and shipped away? Will it be the Republicans? Don't hold your breath.
1
The reality is that Congress has not had the political will to act on this issue and Trump has. The program was TEMPORARY. Because our leaders are too worried about votes, they have not acted on this situation for over 15 years. Obama did nothing. Now Trump at least has done something to start working through the mess that is our current immigration system because Congress cannot act. Don't blame Trump blame our lack of leadership in Congress. It is mind boggling.
4
Guess it’s easy for you to say as you are not affected by these decisions. Don’t give me this nonsense that nobody has the political. It’s the Tea Party Republicans, these anti-immigrant white racist in the Republican Party, who continue to scuttle any type of immigration reforms. They want all brown skinned people out of the country. Obama &
Bush had empathy for these people that’s why they weren’t cruel & inhuman like the egomaniac Trump.
1
"But Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors restrictions on immigration, said the Trump administration was correctly abiding by the original intent of the program."
The dead last thing the Trump administration is trying to abide by is the kindness, generosity and compassion shown by the original program.
There most definitely is a new Sheriff in town, but he's the cruel Sheriff of Nottingham.
1
If the Salvadorans in question have a steady job and have no legal issues, by all means, let them remain in the United States if they have applied for American citizenship. If they have not applied, then deport them. Temporary status is just that, temporary. However, if they have applied for citizenship, let them remain until their case has been presented.
1
No matter the original designation as temporary, once we allowed fellow human beings to live in our country for over a decade, we tacitly gave permission for them to call the US their home.
We need to acknowledge that and make it permanent.
In the future, if we intend a stay in our country to be only temporary, and if the threat back home is truly gone, we need to return people home before they put roots here that make sending them back cruel.
People across all the Americas are our neighbors. Our fates and fortunes are forever linked.
3
I'm beginning to realize, we are becoming a lawless country. Exceptions to every law. Being involved in law enforcement and now retired after 49 years of it, I have seen things change. Examples are Federal laws are against marijuana. A man can be standing over a victim with a gun still in hand screaming at the victim, and cannot plead guilty from the start until some deal is made. After trails with guilty verdicts, with testimony each way, no one is ever charged with perjury although some obviously lied in their testimony.
With love and compassion and a few tears all rules and laws it seems should be overlooked.
I would never enter law enforcement again. I got tired of arresting the small time criminal shoplifting and then seeing multi million dollar investment white collar criminals pretty much get off so light, I used to wonder if a couple years in a federal prison wasn't worth stealing millions to have most of it 'disappear'.
Its strange how everyone wanted a cop shooting investigated by every agency until every one was happy even though an original full investigation had not been completed. In my nearby city of Chicago, NO ONE seems to care about the thousands killed in daily living over the years (many kids, moms, good hard workers, and innocent veterans), yet we scream for justice without seeking justice for people in their daily lives in cities throughout this country.
Common sense got me though my career. Its dissolving rapidly.
2
Salvadorans were granted this TEMPORARY relief in 2001. That's 17 years ago. That's not temporary. Have they, in that 17 yeras tried applying for citizenship?
That being said, sending these folks home now, after so many years and so many American born children, makes no sense. Perhaps it would be better to amend the program so it can't be extended by any more than 12 months after the first 'temporary' 12 month period, or just eliminate it altogether.
3
These people were let in under a set policy that was poorly constructed and now we've decided to take action under that policy. They should not now be penalized for actions not taken by our government when it should have...not 15 years later. These folks who have been here for last 10-15 years should all have a path to citizenship if they are paying their taxes and abiding by the law. In the meantime, maybe our useless representatives in Washington can enact a fair and humane immigration policy.
2
Where are the protests? If Americans come out and protest Trump will back off. It works almost every time. Let's do it again.
2
No, we're good.
I would bet any amount of money that no one here feels that strongly about it, no one's going to protest about this in any state.
Watch
I am a very liberal person who could be convinced that unchecked immigration is not good for the country and is unfair to those waiting to get here through proper channels. I can not get behind the demonizing and cruelty the GOP has shown these people who obviously love America and are contributing to our society. There has to be a better way.
2
Problem: too much time was given. If these people have made a life here, why wait til end to fix your status? We can help others out, but we need more realistic limits.
1
Key word "Temporary". Is 17 years Temporary? I think so. They have a year to do the proper paper work if they wish to stay. Nothing wrong with this order.
4
Most of these people are unskilled, menial laborers, who take more form the system than they contribute. America is not obligated to provide charity to the world's destitute. We already have our own budget problems and an infrastructure in decline.
3
There is no good reason to send these people back to El Salvador after such a long time here. Does Donald rump forget that he is here because of our welcoming immigration policies? What group is next? Certainly not any group that supports Trump - maybe all of the wealthy Russians who are buying into Trump properties. My family immigrated to North America from England in 1635. All 14 generations of us since then have greatly benefited from the right of others to follow us here.
2
By 2019, there will hopefully be a Democrat House and Senate. Trump and Pence will have both been impeached, and the Democrat Speaker will be President and end the madness. People must get out to vote this coming November.
2
If the illegal immigration train is still being promoted and pulled by the Dems, be prepared for defeat.
1
President Trump is taking needed steps to reduce the size of the U.S. government and it takes non productive government workers to process immigrants both in and out. The U.S. government is bankrupt and drastic steps are needed to reduce its size and load.
1
Previous presidents have continually kicked this can down the road. Mr. Trump is actually dealing with it. Congress now has 18 months to act to make law that lets these people stay in the US. It is the same thing with DACA. Mr. Obama said 22 times that he did not have the authority to do DACA and then went ahead and did it unlawfully. Mr. Trump is making congress do their job.
3
I´m brazilian. I´ve known the U.S. sometime ago, lived there for a few years, and I left voluntarily, back home.
The last government decision sounds a little harsh, but there´s no way any nation could help all those in need worldwide, forever. And, moreover, as I can understand, the allowance for those in need had been posted for a limited amount of time. If those citizen want to (re)build a country, why do not do that for their own? The americans had built their country already - based on trust, justice, liberty... that is why the U.S. is so atractive! They made the best they could to do so. Those other countries should follow their example, instead of complaining. Rather than a punishment, the "back home" assignment is an oportunity for restarting (could be from the very scratch, for some middle and south american countries...)
Greets from Brazil - my country is not thaaaat country, but I hope for better days for our people, and to help - in a fair way - other countries, like the U.S. do.
4
A "baffling ideological decision" it is not. It's cruel and unusual punishment. Of course I shouldn't be surprised . Look at what our government has done to its own citizens in Puerto Rico. That's baffling. Trump has demonstrated he doesn't care about human rights around the world and he obviously doesn't care about them in America. It sends a negative message to other countries and a green light to the habitual human rights abusers.
2
Trump's Make America Great Again truly is focusing on making America white again. This administration is throwing out every person of color that it legally can. I am truly ashamed of my country and what it is has come to represent in the last year. I cannot look at or talk to folks who used to be friends who voted Trump and are very supportive of policies like these. What have we become?
1
Why does this Trump administration cause trouble where there is none instead of solving the problems that do exist. Trump, his attorney general, and most of his administration seem to exhibit the behaviour of a peevish adolescent. Is their goal to divert attention away from Trump's own personal problems with the "Russia" investigation or simply the desire to put on a spectacular show, the likes of which we have never seen before? Either way this is no way to lead a government. We can't wait til 2020. Time now for a change.
2
Shame on us. Make no mistake, We the People are responsible for the actions of our government, regardless of our particular political affiliation. It's not someone else, it's us!
2
Is there any pathway for TPS recipients to apply for permanent status and remain in the US? It would be helpful if the NYT could write an article to inform Americans of this.
2
What is the political solution advocated by the Democratic party?
compassionate words and amnesty. For the current, previous and next waves of desperate I guess.
From NY senator Schumer "The Trump Administration’s decision will separate families, hurt communities & local economies, & betray our values as a country of refuge for those in need. I stand with all marching & gathering against it"
From Rep. Pelosi
“The Trump Administration’s cruel and arbitrary immigration decrees have cast a cloud of fear and uncertainty over millions. Congress now has a moral duty to provide permanent security for the patriotic, hard-working Salvadorans who contribute to our nation in every way before the 18-month deadline expires.”
So who is going to replace all the Salvadorans Donny Do-Little hires to maintain his mansions, country clubs, hotels, etc.?
2
So people who came here illegally in 2001, have a quasi-green card, while US citizens are still waiting for their legally sponsored relatives. Someone who sponsored his brother/sister in 2004, back when George W. Bush was President, can now have family reunification.
Indian immigrants on work visas whose green cards are approved wait 10 years for visa numbers to become current. People are waiting since 2008 to get a green card.
Abolish per country limits for employment based GCs...
Will Salvadoreans be welcome to work illegally and then get visas in any Lat Am country? I dont think Mexico will allow them to work in Mexico- Mexico is much richer than El Salvador, but does not allow illegal immigrants to work...
I can’t stand Trump, but this is a great example of the biased, one-dimensional, agenda-driven reporting that will keep the Democrats losing. Go visit the Center for Migration Studies website and see if you believe it is a credible, objective, data-driven institute or just masquerading as one. Perceptive NYT readers have commented frequently about the papers glaring bias on this issue. If Democratic leaders keep pandering on this subject, we are going to keep ending up withTrumps and all their devastating collateral damage to agencies like the EPA.
3
It struck me that one ironic, and potentially cruel, aspect of US immigration policy is that children born in the US, regardless of the legal status of their parents, become US citizens. Many of the heartbreaking stories surrounding immigration issues involve the implications for these families. It only seems natural that non-citizen parents whose children are US citizens would build and conduct their lives as if they would stay in the US.
Has any of these 200,000 people, (or 800,000 dreamers) taken ANY action to start the legal process to become US citizens? Why is it the right decision? Because there is a long line of people in front of Them who are willing to go about it legally, instead of expecting it to be handed to them. How about saying “thank you for the opportunity” and blame themselves for thinking the rules weren’t going to apply to them.
2
Another heartless and soul-less move by this administration. Instead of spending taxpayer’s money on ripping families from their homes, why don’t they invest some time and effort implementing humanitarian initiatives for the less fortunate Americans. Those displaced by natural disasters are deserving of our kindness. If these people have assimilated into our society, let it be!
2
If keeping families together is so important, they can keep them together in El Salvador. We can also avoid "tearing families apart" by ending birthright citizenship, which is granted only in the U.S. and Canada -- no other country gives away passports like candy wrappers. American citizenship is not a given right to every person in the world and the American standard of living will continue to decline as long as the country behaves like a charitable organization to the Third World.
I feel sorrow that you hate the US Constitution so much. The 14th Amendment to the US Constitution confers citizenship on people born in the US. Don't be a hater.
3
The people were not 'illegal' as I constantly read, they were refugees from a country ripped apart by a terribly violent war. The 'old' USA offered shelter and safety to these refugees in their hour of need. They did not commit any crime in accepting the kind offer of your formerly welcoming and generous country to go and live in safety. I am utterly mystified by the level of nastiness and downright hate that seems to lurk in many of those comments in favour of 'turfing out the illegals'. What is up with you people? Look into your heart and answer that for me. What are you so afraid of?
6
The El Salvadorans referenced number about 200K who are classified as TPS as being refugees from a 2001 earthquake. There are about 1.8 million El Salvadoran immigrants in other status. They are not being told to get out. They are being until Sept 2019 to resolve their temporary status.
Perhaps they could have been trying to resolve their status all along.
2
Dear El Salvadorans, Welcome to America! - Signed...all US Citizen Black people who the likes of Trump and his people WISH they could deport but CANNOT!
3
The impact of losing these hard working people from our full employment workforce will be lost production and a lower GDP. But the loss to our goodness is even more damaging for as DeTocqueville said. " America is great because it is good, if it fails to be good it will no longer be great."
20
De Tocqueville toured the United States in 1831. There were neither 200,000 Salvadorans or 11 Million illegal aliens here. What De Tocqueville saw were patriotic Americans whose fathers fought a revolution a half century earlier to gain their freedom. America has been "good" to the Salvadorans for over two decades and I am struck by the fact that this article chose to interview Salvadorans who after 20 made no effort to learn English and spoke entirely about how this country had made them comfortable. What do they know of "de Tocqueville" and why would they care what he thought?
1
We need a comprehensive and wise immigration process and path to citizenship - long overdue from Congress because of GOP refusal to address it after Bush tried and failed. Once children are born and raised in the US it is heartless to deport a family. The GOP and Trump have demonstrated they have no heart.
18
America’s welcome is not “build the wall,” instead it is and always has been...”Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse of your teaming shores. Send these, the homeless, tempest tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden arm.”
And since our nation’s founding these huddled masses are the people who have immigrated to the United States, wave after wave, often with little but themselves but they brought with them a spirit to be free and a yearning to make a better life for them and their families. They built our cities, our towns, our villages, built our farms our factories, built our roads, bridges, tunnels, railroads, ports and canals. They built homes, apartments, skyscrapers, museums, officers and hospitals. They built our nation’s capital, national monuments and national parks.
It is these huddled masses yearning to be free that breathed life into what today we do proudly call America and we still need them today to move our nation forward for future generations.
Trump is wrong on immigration. We need bridges not walls.
20
Xenophobic, inhumane, cruel, racist and discriminatory narrow-minded, conscienceless social policy.
We are speaking of 1/5th of a million people, adults and children; 1/5th of a million !
22
America, the beacon of freedom, hope and opportunity. The nation built by refugees from tyranny and taxation. The country built on the ideals of hard-work, independence, and ambition. A place for dreamers, doers, and those who aspire to greatness. A society built by foreigners who collectively constructed one of the longest-running democracies. All spoiled by this errant, antagonistic administration fueled by anti-American values, driven by corruption, led by jack-booted bullies. This dark day will pass. A new day is already on the horizon. Let us resist.
11
The USA is not perfect, and never has been. But we used to be better than this.
22
This article neglects to mention that all of these Salvadorans who have been enjoying the American way of life for 17 years are more than welcome to apply for naturalization and become full fledged members of this country. If El Salvador is so bad and there's truly nothing there for them, why wouldn't they try to become US citizens?
4
Application process is long. Today they cannot resolve the problem this way. Yesterday they did not think it was important
3
And Bugsy, your comment neglects to notice that (1) the naturalization process may take years; (2) throughout that process, any one of the applicants apparently would remain subject to immediate deportation under this latest order; (3) the Trump administration has or soon will drastically cut 'quotas' for the number of immigrants who will be permitted to enter and become citizens; making efforts at naturalization futile; (5) none of these people could possibly continue to live in peace and tranquility, or make plans for their own lives and commitments to others, like schools and employers, while their ability to remain here remains subject to the whims of a lunatic executive branch, ICE agents and bureaucrats; (6) many of these people are children and young adults born here who know no other life but this one, and have nowhere to go; (7) many others are homeowners who suddenly may be divested of their homes and other assets and belongings not readily transferred or moved when subject to deportation on short notice.
The last time a supposedly civilized Western nation implemented a similar policy of exclusion based on the national origin, language and 'race' of defined groups of people, a gentleman by the name of Adolf Hitler endorsed a decree which declared that all Jews, gypsies and others previously legally resident in Germany were no longer citizens and were subject to deportation at any time.
Yessiree, we're Making America Great Again. My behind we are.
Obviously you have no idea how broken our immigration process is today. These El Salvadorans who entered illegally, escaping violence & unspeakable living conditions will now have to move back to El Salvador for 10 years waiting for the process. Meanwhile they have been productive members of our society, had children, started businesses, & paid taxes. It’s cruel to uproot families like these without viable humane immigration processes. These people deserve to be Americans as much as you. I’m pretty sure your family emigrated from somewhere else.
1
While he is at it, why doesn't Trump tear down the Statue of Liberty with her tired message and replace it with a gigantic complex of golden hotels for all those tax-evading plutocrats, ex-dictators, Saudi princes, Russian mobsters and Republican cronies who crave a slice of the New York skyline.
10
Not a single mention of MS-13, the most vicious gang in America, which was founded by Salvdadorans who fled the Civil War and settled in LA in the 1980's.
How many MS-13 members are in the 200,000 who will be deported? How many criminals? How many who have been here for many years and have not bothered to learn English (just under 50% of Salvadoran Americans speak English 'not very well' (Pew Research)?
This article shows us a picture of a hardworking happy young family with an American flag in the background and the content of the piece reinforces the notion that all 200,000 of these individuals are solid tax paying assimilated folks. I'm sure a great many of them are people such as this but all too often the NYT, straining itself into politically correct reporting, fails to give us a balanced, nuanced picture of immigrant-temporary stay-refugee-illegal immigrant population.
Please watch this video embedded in this Washington Post article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/she-told-the-girl-she...
6
Your ignorance is astounding. The Obama administration deported thousands upon thousands of MS-13. TPS does not shield you from criminal activity, in fact if you took time to read the details of TPS, you would know you lose TPS status once convicted.
1
MS-13 developed as a neighborhood defense troupe against other gangs in California, the same strategy the US instructed Salvadoran villages to follow during the civil war to fend off insurgents similar to the civilian village defense forces the US attempted to organize against the VC during the Vietnam War. Ghosts from the past are coming to haunt.
1
These people are not mass members of the gang
They were granted "Temporary Protected Status."
If words mean anything at all, "temporary" means temporary.
It clearly does not mean permanent.
It does not take a college degree to understand that.
And yet a basic understanding of the plain meaning of words
seems to escape supposedly erudite elites in this country --
from the Fourth Estate to the Academy to the Bar to the Pulpit --
who incessantly agitate for massive immigration into the USA
under one pretext or another.
The very same supposed erudite elites who take special glee
in taking every opportunity to snidely ridicule the supposed ignorance
of the unwashed hoi polloi who voted for Trump.
10
No one's calling for massive immigration. Settle down there. These folks have already migrated and are contributing members, unlike the Kochs, Mercers, Trumps, who only avoid taxes while amassing more wealth.
It would be nice to see the Democrats stand up to this forced deportation of 190,000 American citizens, and 200,000 of their until now legal family members.
At this point, the Trump administration's racism has no bound. It's time to protect children who have known no other home than the US -- even if it requires shutting down the government over it.
Let's see the Republicans run on making American children choose between leaving their families and leaving their homes.
7
This presents a fantastic opportunity to these people to make El Salvador great again.
8
First off, ever thought about what happens to small, poor, unstable countries when you dump 200, 000 jobless, homeless people on them? Or ever asked why they're poor and unstable? Or ever wondered if you'd like to have your kid go fight there?
Second off, people and governments that behave this way don't stop with immigrants and dark-skinned folks. Oh my, no. They always, always, come after YOU.
11
I agree we need to send “T” back
If that means sending “ Trump”
Back to Fake Reality show.
This guy is is real danger to our
Country and destroying and
Demoralizing is so fast that it will
Take decades to built it back.
5
This is from an entitled man who has never had to struggle or sacrifice anything in his life. He has gone broke multiple times and stuck suppliers and taxpayers with the bill. Meanwhile, people who have had to fight for their families and have worked hard and played by the rules are again stiffed by Trump. The man is a foul blight on the office of President.
12
There is only one solution here. Vote enough Republicans out of office in November to put the House and Senate back under veto-proof Democratic Control. We are talking about a political sea change.
If we don’t like the policies of our insane president and his self-destructive administration, we must find a way to take away their power before they destroy everything that is good about America (something they are doing at frightening speed).
18
Trump dictates, while at his feet, Republicans grovel in fear of upsetting their tempermental genius.
7
It would be so nice if the people featured in the video had made the effort to learn English in the 12 years that they were living in this country. The fact that they didn't speaks volumes about their lack of assimilation, gratitude and devotion to this country. Our country does not need people who don't bother to learn English after so many years in this country.
17
Immigrants' children who grow up in America do speak English. It has always been this way: the first generation to arrive continues to communicate mostly in their native language, while their children use this language at home but communicate in English everywhere else. A major reason the first generation is less likely to use a new language is simply that language is much more difficult to acquire in adulthood. This is well established in education research and the reason why foreign language education optimally begins in early grades.
1
We need to continually review our laws and make adjustments as situations change. No one should be held in limbo for over a decade, wondering when the status they are in will change. Congress has for decades shirked its responsibility. We need to look at how many of those folks were 16 or younger when they came so can be moved to DACA status and with any luck those children brought here by their parents illegally will be the only ones to be held accountable. For those who are paying taxes and fully integrated into our society, there should be a crafted path to permanent residency and then citizenship.
We have always been reliant on immigrants. Where would we be if Einstien who came in the late 1930s was forced to go back to Germany and in all likelihood killed for being a Jew?
Our country is in a very bad state because Congress for at least 2 decades has not been doing its job.
10
Harming 200,000 Americans, with no benefit for the USA... the Crude Dude strikes again!
3
They are not Americans, they were given a temporary refuge into this country. Overstaying that is their fault.
1
The cold-hearted, merciless Republicans are pushing their agendas as fast as they can. They know that soon Trump will be political toast...one way or another...and their stooge will no longer be able to wield his little pen as they dictate (literally). God, this is so disgusting. I can't believe this is The United States of America that I was born into...from French and Scottish immigrants a few generations ago. And Trump was from German and Scottish immigrants, n'est-ce pas? The hypocrisy is stunning. Two words give me hope. "Elections 2018."
7
Come to Canada!!! We’d love to have you. In fact, our pcompany is always hiring good, honest, hardworking adults. We pay a living wage and provide competitive benefit packages.
7
To all these commenters who are so baffled by Trump's decision: How long would you let a neighbor whose house burned down stay in your own house?
9
Well, I suppose: If there was plenty of room (wings in the house so as to not be on top of each other), they did their chores like the rest of us, paid their fair share of the rent/mortgage, contributed to the neighborhood watch, became our friends and families, our children grew up together... oh, and they paid their taxes... permanently! (Your comment was about as applicable and shortsighted as they come. Seriously?)
2
What about the over 100000 American citizens that are their children? The family values party and Evangelicals don't seem to care about breaking up these families.
What about the conservative Catholics and the Church's teaching on immigrants? Seems to me that real Christians need to speak up!
20
In a situation like this the parents will have to decide if their American citizen children return home with them or stay in the US.
That is a decision the families will have to make. This was always the choice they would have had to make as this was a TEMPORARY program.
They chose to have children in the US on TEMPORARY status. They created the tough situation they now face.
I feel bad that they have this tough choice to make. I can only hope they weighed the costs and made an informed decision- and I hope advocates have not been lying to them and saying that once they have children it will be too tough to send then home because we cannot break-up families.
The Church has no place in temporal matters. It obeys the law of the land or it has no place here.
1
A modest proposal. Those individuals caught up in this mess should legally change their last name to "Jones" or "Smith," and their first names to "Becky" or "Jimmy." Then maybe wear some complexion-lightening cream when out in public. Start using expressions like "gosh!" or "gee wiz!"
You know, just until this all blows over.
2
This administration does nothing but create despair and hardship while turning a blind eye to real problems or just making them far worse. What a mean-spirited group of people. May Nov 2018 start to heal our national soul.
18
We are a country of laws. "T" from TPS means temporary. That was the original intent of the program: a temporary stay period.
Do not forget: the children of those admitted in the 80's born in the USA are now adults and American citizens are here to stay. They are part of these 200,000 we are talking about, but the coloring books liberals love to create confusion.
6
We are a country of laws. "T" from TPS means temporary. That was the original intent of the program: a temporary stay period.
Do not forget: the children of those admitted temporary in the 80's, born in the USA are now adults and American citizens. They are here to stay. They are part of these 200,000 we are talking about, but the coloring books liberals love to create confusion.
12
Good grief. Bring on President Oprah, a self-made black billionaire who understands the American soul and what it means to be a humanitarian more than anyone else. That is what America needs. Not this evil.
10
This is just some next-level discrimination right here. And it pains me to think that the lives of these people, who have essentially become contributing citizens of this country after 15 years of living here, are being completely upended.
What exactly are they supposed to go back to after all this time? Why rip everything away from them? What does this solve?
There's 325,000,000 people in this country. Why shatter the lives of 200,000 people? This solves nothing.
13
Unfairness and illegality are acceptable if the rate is low?
Ours laws do not say: enforce at will. Our system does not say: only nice citizens count.
Our elected government created a policy that allowed for temporary stays for people from regions experiencing severe problems. Citizens were told that was the policy.
If the policy should be: take anyone, and everyone, with a sad story then lets have Congress write that law and pass it.
Until then lets keep our word to our own people: this is a temporary program.
The idea that we disenfranchise our own citizens because law-breakers are good people or hard workers is crazy to me.
Send these people home. Write new laws saying the US will take in anyone and everybody. Lets see if it passes.
If it does we can expect another four years of Trump. But it will not get written let alone passed or signed into law- because a sensible majority of citizens in this country have realized that our immigration policies are not working.
1
It's a start. Such dreamers...
There are hundreds of comments here making the argument that since these people have lived here in the US for well over a decade and made a life for themselves here, telling them that their protected status was only temporary and temporary by definition has an expiration date, is inhumane and that they must be allowed to stay here forever.
Now the temporary protected status under which they were living in the US had long ago expired, but instead of going back home they pleaded for the US to extend the program, which the US did.
So now after pleading for the program to be extended again and again the argument is that because the US granted their repeated requests to extend the program they have gotten so comfortable living in the US, and so removed from life back home, that it is too difficult for them at this stage to leave the US and go back home.
However the fact that they established lives here in the US which makes it difficult for them to simply uproot themselves and go back home is a problem of their own making. They were well aware of the fact that the day would come when they would be told their temporary stay is over.
So instead of faulting the government with telling them that dreaded day that they always knew would come has arrived and there will be no more extensions to the program, they should fault themselves for deluding themselves into acting as if this was their permanent home when they knew good and well that it was not.
22
The problem here is that our government misled these people by granting them "Temporary Protected Status" for a period of time that few would consider "temporary". Twenty years or more? But the, you know, it is not really fair to the American people to grant immigrants "temporary" status for such extended periods of time. And it isn't really fair to the immigrants to tell them their status is "temporary" on one hand and then on the other to extend the status for decades. The status was given initially because there were earthquakes many years ago, long ago forgotten. So my question is why did our government engage in this charade? It was unfair to all involved and does not represent fair and competent enforcement of our laws. I think the American people are owed an explanation of how this situation was allowed to develop. And then finally that the Trump administration is going to try to put an end to it does not strike me as the wrong thing to do or as an outrage. On the contrary. it's about time that this charade is put to an end - the affected people can apply for legal status on a different basis or they will have to return home.
Michael your lack of empathy & understanding mirrors that of your morally bankrupt leader Trump. Maybe they thought if they worked hard and became a productive member of our society we would recognize their value to our country and find it in our best interest not just economically but morally to allow them to stay.
2
While deporting these folks are not a good idea - after all, most are productive "Americans" for the past 17 years - I do think an 18 month notice for Congress to decide what to do with them is a reasonable compromise (I can't believe I'd ever agree with the current administration directive!)
This is very different from DACA, infants and/or young people brought to this country. In a way, I am also sympathetic to people who wanted to seek a new life in a country they truly believe in. These folks have 17 years to do something. Not easy, but foot dragging doesn't show any sincerity either
To be fair, Congress has been negligent in doing something. Especially when President Obama was in the White House. The Grand Obstruction Party would say 'no' to anything. Now, they need to face the music to show who they are. TPS and DACA need to be addressed.
Instead of a simplistic 'yes' or 'no' solution, Congress needs to have a set of rules. For example, Mr Jiron cited in this article has put down roots in this country, with children born in this country, his family should qualify more than people who cannot communicate after being here for more than a decade. And anyone who has committed any felony crimes should not be able to hide behind any special considerations
16
I am not a Trump fan but isn't reasonable to expect folks who came "temporarily" to be asked to leave. If we want to create path to citizenship for everyone where does it end. US has immigration system, may be flawed but still there is process and shouldn't those laws be respected and followed. It is bit sad but it is understandable why it needs to be enforced
51
I'm with you. I also have zero sympathy for self-inflicted wounds. Ten years they have had to learn the language, learn our history and apply for citizenship. We simply cannot continue to accept the overflow from countries whose citizens breed themselves beyond the capacity of their resources. My country ceases to be my country when it belongs to everyone. As long as just one of my countryman is hungry or homeless, I don't give a wit if the whole world starves to death.
11
Oh, please. Even mentioning "Trump," together with "the rule of law,"'is ludicrous.
Please apply yourself and improve your English skills before you chirp about cruelly sending someone back to a sad life.
1
This has the stench of a Miller about it and it reeks.
63
I think it's also Kelly, who's more of a racist than any of us realized.
1
Yep. It's a response to Miller being escorted off the CNN set.
1
As someone who has lived in countries outside of my birthplace, I have always known that we are guests and the right to live in a country can be withdrawn. We have prepared ourselves to move if necessary. Of course this will cause us hardship, but it's part of being an emigrant. By becoming an emigrant, you accept this reality. You can't take the advantages you derive from your host country and not accept the risk.
Governments can be capricious, we know that. If we lose our right to live as residents, we will make other plans. I don't se how these people are any different.
56
While some of what you say may be true, the country from which you are native to plays a large part in this type of situation. Obviously, if you have to return to a country that is relatively stable versus a country that has multiple systematic problems such as poverty and violence, it's not so much of a punch in the face.
I think it's easy for people to speak about this sort of thing in a supportive way from an outsiders perspective. But the reality is that after over 15 years, these people have essentially come citizens of the US, and what they have to go back to isn't exactly a pretty picture.
What country are you from and where have you lived exactly?
3
“These people”? The circle that includes “these people” will only widen so that more and more human families living in this country will become “these people.”
It’s authoritarianism 101, make living breathing human beings the Other. It’s dangerous and it’s not the United States I grew up in. Yes, I know we’re not perfect, but we are at a minimum supposed to be better than this.
Hear this: I’m not only going to get upset on the internet. I’m going to get politically involved. If I don’t, the risk is that my family will one day become “these people.”
1
You were not driven out of your birthplace by war, famine, floods and earthquakes..so you still have a "home". These people do not.
1
This administration has no decency, no shame, and no knowledge of current or past history of El Salvador. They don't care.
May I suggest to these deserving immigrants that they apply for asylum in Canada in the few months they have left.
54
They're deserving because an earthquake happened to occur 27 years ago?
12
"May I suggest to these deserving immigrants that they apply for asylum in Canada in the few months they have left."
Who cares as long as they are no longer our responsibility.
Asylum? You have no idea what you are talking about. And Canadian taxpayers will NOT thank you for giving their tax money away to capricious "asylum" applicants. Why not encourage them to just illegally move to Canada, if you are going to be so generous--and stupid.
Now we know why John Kelly, I-share-Trump's-view-of-the-world, pushed so hard for his WH assistant to be appointed Secretary of Homeland Security. Makes it ever so much smoother to end humanitarian programs and move the country further towards an authoritarian, racist, elitist, intolerant Trumpworld, where we worship his stable genius.
49
This is undisguised bullying.
27
I know. People come here illegally by the thousands. They staff low wage jobs.
Their employers then get Federal protection for their illegal labor.
None of these people, all kind and hard-working, applied for this program before illegally entering our country.
This is not about helping people suffering from natural disasters. This was about protecting the profits of employers at the expense of citizens.
Low wage laborers ensure that wages do not rise. Again: this program was never about helping anyone other than the already rich.
What’s wrong with this man?
23
I am a strong supporter of immigrants who come to our country legally. By entering only when they have fulfilled the legal requirements for residency and work, at the very least, they have demonstrated the first requirement of citizenship: respect for our laws. These are the true "contributors" to our society and economy. Those who enter, stay, and work illegally do not deserve respect because they do not respect our laws. They may have good reasons to leave their home countries. They may want better lives for their children. They may be hard workers. But they are not "law-abiding." They have broken our laws and apparently expect to go unpunished. When American citizens break laws, they are arrested, tried, convicted and punished and we call it "justice." No one advocates for them to be spared the consequences of their criminal actions because they were good workers or good parents before they broke a law. No one argues that putting them in jail is cruel because it breaks up their families. There should be no more compassion shown to immigration law-breakers than to any other law-breakers.
30
I believe your confused. These Salvadorans did not break any laws. They applied to T.P.S. and completed the process to be able to LEGALY work and live here. As you stated, this first act shows that they do have respect for our laws. My parents are Salvadoran (don't worry they're residents and soon will become U.S. citizens) and they initially entered the U.S. with T.P.S. LEGALLY during El Salvador's civil war. They have always respected U.S. laws from taxes to having to renew and pay for their green cards. It's saddening to see ignorant people. I wish people would be better informed.
There was no law broken. They were surprised just this day, right?
1
They've been here legally, is the thing.
1
If the arrangement was meant to be temporary, don't blame Trump for embracing this. Were the arrangement to be permanent it should have been so implemented in the first place by the powers that decided on this. This is similar to Trump designating Jerusalem as Israel's capital. This was decided on quite awhile ago and Trump's refusal to renew the waiver is just a case of calling a spade a spade. For all intents and purposes, Jerusalem is Israel's capital and seat of government, just like those who got permission to come to the US on a temporary basis should have expected that this was a temporary arrangement.
33
and whatever Palestinian lands Israel decide to "annex" and settle next have always been part of Israel, they are just getting around to doing it now. didn't the Palestinians get the memo?
1
Long-term, this policy simply heightens the coming challenge the U.S. faces: with the birth-rate falling, without immigration growth we are headed into the Japanese abyss. A stagnant population, aging all the time, ends in deflation and economic contraction. That doesn't work for anyone.
Congrats to the Republicans, as they once again shoot our future in the chest.
33
Sometimes the solution is the problem. Let's just continue "growth" until Malthus finally has his day and we are forced to either make the planet bigger, shrink ourselves or half of us kill the other half. Which one of those options is viable?
8
Low population is a good thing in a world where global warming is a growing problem.
1
I went through the legal process to bring my wife to the USA and now am following a legal process to migrate to Malaysia. I have no pity for those who want a free ride. Temporary should mean that. Under the 1965 immigration reform chain migration means the children of these temporary persons will get to bring in more uneducated persons. Look at the people interviewed in the article. All working class. American needs educated persons to immigrate, not economic refugees who just want to work at menial labor.
49
El Salvador is a beautiful country and has great waves. I'll go and they can
take my place here.
8
I keep thinking I can't hate Trump more than I already do.
He keeps surprising me!
30
Some people love him , some hate him. Same as w obama and most other presidents in the past
Why inflict profound trauma on tens of thousands of people? Why? Do our lawmakers have even an ounce of emotional intelligence to imagine --for just a moment -- what such trauma (I.e divided families)might be like?
33
This has the grubby prints of Stephen Miller all over it.
25
How much more revolting can this government become? Once more the Republicans show their true colours by victimizing the poorest and most vulnerable among us; once again families will be torn apart as non-citizen parents must decide whether to take their US-born American citizen children back to a horrendous environment in El Salvador or leave them behind in the relative safety of the US; once again the gutless, craven cowards of the GOP in Congress will sit mutely on their hands and do nothing, say nothing, too terrified of their "president," to put a stop to this.
The world waits for the proportion of America that has retained some measure of decency to put a stop to these kinds of actions, while the Statue of Liberty hangs her head in shame in New York Harbor.
45
I no longer recognize my country.
53
The issue of "temporary":
This is not about finally and logically ending a temporary program — that can/could be achieved by granting citizenship to those Salvadoreans that have been in the US since at least X years and satisfy a number of obvious criteria (i.e. no criminal record). Presto! "Temporary" dealt with.
But that's not the goal of this Trump administration decision. They just want these brown people — seriously potential Democrats if they were citizens — out and gone.
40
I thought Trump won on the premise of getting rid of illegal aliens. Since he has failed at yet another campaign promise, his only option is to get rid of legal aliens. And what about Mexico paying the wall? Just another empty promise. 0
16
The Salvadoreans are not legal except for the temporary program. They were here illegally before the earthquakes and a decision was made to suspend deportation of them. Removing them from the temporary program means they are now eligible for deportation again.
1
TPS does not mean green card. They will become deportable after the temporary protected status ends. So far, there are no immigration crackdowns.
To all those crying shame. Open your own homes, before virtue signalling. That's all.
18
Why would I want or need to open my own home? They all have their own accommodation.
25
What an idiotic comment. The overwhelming majority of these people own or rent their own homes, and are employed.
42
Most Americans would love to open our homes - you don't get it.
9
Reply to Vanesa- John Kelly is a war hero who also lost his son in defense of this country. How dare you question his family’s citizenship. There is no comparison.
15
Trump probably got wind of several of those Washington Post article about the ruthless murders perpetrated recently by MS13 gangs in Northern Virginia and Maryland brought to his attention.
Democrats, unchecked illegal immigration is our 2020 Cassandra.
9
Then indict them, convict them (if guilty) and sentence them to a long period of detention.
10
Just another reason to hate this sorry excuse of a president and a GOP that stands by.... really a wall & this? I can't wait till 2018 & 2020 - or maybe if we're lucky things will get bad enough that even the current gop will stand up.
Honestly is this guy someone you'd like in you home or respect or want to associate with? The GOP ignoring how bad he is for the country is pathetic.
26
I echo the heartsick sentiments of many here. The first thing I did upon reading this article was to Google "Consequences for Harboring Illegal Immigrants." Well, those consequences aren't pretty, much as they weren't for people who got caught moving slaves in the underground railroad, or for people helping Jews during Nazi Germany. God help the slaves themselves, or the Jews.
Viva la resistance!
Unfortunately, as of today I'm officially and digitally identified as a Salvadoran sympathizer. No doubt the NSA has my number. The resistance is more complicated than ever. Good luck in helping any of those American-born children of Salvadoran heritage now, much less their parents.
For shame.
18
It's just mean.
26
Can an illegal immigrant apply for citizenship at local DOI office?
2
How do all the evangelical family values voters feel about breaking up families with AMERICAN BORN children and forcing their parents to either abandon their homes and their children and send them back to countries ravaged by violence. This isn't all that different than when the Nazis started revoking citizenship status from ethnic groups they didn't like.
24
Intentional cruelty
18
I don't see much of an effort to deport the Irish here without visas. This is Trump appealing to the racist element of his base. First it was Muslims. Then refugees. Nicaraguans. Haitians. Now Salvadorans. He was all over Houston and Florida, but slighted Puerto Rico in disaster response and relief. Score another for the Nazis. The man is deranged and on a vendetta against all things Obama.
And the GOP nods approvingly in the background.
27
"[Trump is on] a vendetta against all things Obama."
Before ranting about Trump, you should know that "the [TPS] program [] was signed into law by President George Bush in 1990."
11
You should know that in 2016 under Obama administration T.P.S. was renewed.
4
This is shameful, cruel and destructive and I do not understand it.
20
This is a sad, shameful, and cruel day for America. These people are members of our community and should be protected. I fear the wave of xenophobic racism is sweeping over our country with gathering speed.
16
REALITY: these people will have an opportunity to come in the front door
8
If you know anything about the time frame of immigration services (government underfunding!) you will know that it is not really possible to leave and come back legally to the US unless you want to sell everything you have here, wait abroad for years to get approval and then start from scratch once you are back in the US with your previous business contacts dried up and you ten or more years older. And in the meantime you had to work in a new job abroad so that you could support your US-citizen children while you waited for your visa and then had to give up whatever existence you had built up to support yourself during the wait. By the time the US officials look at your visa application, they may decide you are too old and with insufficient economic prospects. I don't know whether having US-citizen children will be advantageous or be held against you.
5
Out of the two most anti-immigrant who were shaping the anti-immigration policies in the White House, Stephen Bannon is already fired. Steve Miller should be shown the way out ASAP.
18
"... Stephen Bannon ... Steve Miller ..."
Bannon and Miller are not mentioned in the article. If you want to complain about people in government, it should be about the two DHS Secretaries who made the decisions to implement these policies.
1. Elaine Duke (acting)
2. Kirstjen Nielsen (permanent)
3
If you want to stop illegal immigration, then don't allow residential property ownership by foreigners and enforce worker identity laws against employers and don't allow illegal immigrants to go to public schools.
18
These are LEGAL immigrants with protected status.
14
Barbara they were/are Temporary residents within TPS
9
Barbara, they were given temporary status not permanent citizen status. I know it's confusing but there it is.
18 months to do something about it. Those that are eligible should file asylum claims, there are some other avenues as well. If corporations in Houston can't live without these workers, why don't they do what other corporations do when they can't live without someone on a temporary visa: Sponsor them for green cards. Likewise other corporations elsewhere that feel the same way. I'm a little sick of seeing business people claim they can't do without and still unwilling to sponsor. But I guess that's just like having minimum wage workers they care so much about, and leaving it to federal programs to pay for their needed benefits and supplement their wages.
TPS is temporary. It's what the 'T' stands for.
If El Salvador is not someplace that can be returned to, then we do have a Congress that can step in as well.
I would like to see something get done, but I don't think it's to turn TPS into something its not, it's more something that should be done for Salvadorans in light of their current situations, or should be done for contributing members of this society in recognition of their contributions.
16
I guess he's putting the temporary in these "temporary" programs that congress ignored on a bi-partisan basis. Good for him. Maybe now we'll get real legislation from our elected good-for-nothings.
20
I believe Ms Lagunas when she says she works hard, and I think her cleaning job is one not many American citizens want to do because it's hard. However, her decision to stay without a job or medical benefits (that I'm assuming come with it) means she and her family will be drawing on US resources to pay for their health issues should they arise. Legal and illegal immigration produce both benefits and costs for the US; they have complicated and nuanced dynamics such that liberals, conservatives and especially the President should stop characterizing them in such simplistic terms.
8
These TPS Salvadorians have undoubtedly taken more benefits than they have paid in to they system. Millions.
1
This is a travesty, what are we becoming as a nation when we are breaking up families that are law abiding and here legally? Why is this a priority? How is this improving our economy?
13
TPS participants are not here legally. If they were legal, they would not need protection for deportation.
1
We have trains falling off the tracks.We have airports shutting down du to burst pipes or power outages.We have bridges falling into the rivers and this is what we prioritize? Do we have enough workers to rebuild our infrastructure?
17
A possible reason for this could stem from Trump's outspoken "war" on MS-13, whose members are primarily Salvadoran.
7
My feeling is that these tax dollars are better spent deporting MS-13 members from El Salvador, as opposed to assimilated, hard working Salvadorans.
This is yet another Obama mess, like North Korean, created by years of his administration being unable to make tough decisions.
People seek safe haven in the US because we live by the rule of law. But when the rule of law is ignored for decades, it is unconscionable to enforce it now.
What a mess.
16
The Golden Rule that this administration so frequently violates is do unto others as you would have them do unto you. I doubt that Stephan Miller, Huckabee-Sanders, or Trump would like this done unto them were they the Salvadorians who fled a country that our hubris tore apart.
7
"the Salvadorians who fled a country that our hubris tore apart."
"our hubris"? How did the US cause two earthquakes in El Salvador?
Mr.John Kelly,
I understand TPS is temporary. When your ancestors came to this land, did they come in as temporary? or was it a permanent?.
8
Irrelevant. At one time there were no laws pertaining to immigration. So what? There were no laws regarding speed limits or pollution in the past either. Does that mean we should get rid of them too?
2
Cruel, mean, pandering to the base. Guess my Christian values, as I know them, would be drummed out of the modern GOP.
15
What have you done to yourself, America? What have you become? The world is not laughing at you, we are turning away and shedding a tear. The inhumanity (and pleasure so many million Americans get from it) is heart breaking.
29
If you check the most recent Pew surveys, you'll find the greater part of the international community is pretty much repulsed by this administration and will continue turning away from America if the American people don't curb this administration's obvious excesses. The export community should think about that - seriously.
10
Just protecting our borders.
We don't need interference from Canada on it either.
What would you have us do? We don't have the power to "curb this administration's obvious excesses." I voted for Hillary. I have shown up for every march organized here in Tucson: the Women's March; the March for Science; the March for Climate Change; and, the March Against Racism. I personally have written hundreds of emails and letters to my tone-deaf representatives. I have made hundreds of phone calls to my two senators and one congressional representative. I spent a hundred dollars alone on postage to send a letter to every single senator, detailing every single thing I find reprehensible about Trump and his vile agenda. I will vote in 2018 and 2020, if I'm still alive and if free and fair elections are still held in AmeriKa. But I have no real power; I'm a retired school teacher, so I have no real money to speak of. Millions of Americans are doing exactly what I'm doing; we do NOT support this president nor his racist, xenophobic, misogynistic agenda. Americans helped all of you Europeans after WWII - we virtually rebuilt your countries with our dollars. We have supported you through thick and thin. So where is the global community now that decent Americans need YOUR help? Help us. Protest. Refuse Trump entry into your country. Write letters to our Congress. Realize that we are helpless and at the mercy of this sick, disgusting man a MINORITY of deplorable voted for. Help us. Thank you.
collateral damage for a diversion and appeal to the base
11
I am surprised that the Center for Immigration Studies was quoted without mentioning the Southern Poverty Law Center considers them a hate group.
21
Mueller must be getting close.
18
You bet!
Call for impeachment friends.
Canadian Nick here
Can somebody tell me why I get an audio file with this ?
1
God bless Randy Statham
1
The only temporary doing any harm to the USA is in the White House.
28
If we Americans allow this happen we will be complicit to one of most cruel crimes, similar to ethnic cleansing as a reader commented, humanity has witnessed.
15
Get a grip. We're asking people to leave that knew they were getting temporary status when they came. These people have had almost 20 years of u.s. hospitality. The travesty is that we don't enforce our own laws and that many commentors think we shouldn't have any.
3
You are watching the unAmericaning of the United States.
17
Our government is of the people, for the people, by the people. How do we the people stop this cruelty?
15
Win.
This may be a good development for America. We will get to decide in 2018, and 2020, what kind of country we want to be. Seeing racism out in the open may be a catalyst to directly addressing it. This administration has made their intentions clear, and their base agrees. We will see where the majority of Americans stand.
16
By your "reasoning" any country on earth that has and enforces its immigration laws is racist. Let us know when you find that non racist one to live in.
2
I'm the son of people who came to the US legally. They followed the rules.
I also disagree with most of Trump's policies. Nonetheless, to allow this group or any group to stay semi-permanently makes me resentful of anyone else who overstays their visas and reluctant for the US govt to be generous towards the next batch of natural disaster/ruthless dictators victims. Their misfortune becomes a kind of "opportunity lottery" because all of their children born in the US become automatic US citizens and makes the case for sending them back all the more difficult.
Right now there is a humanitarian crisis in Venezuela where people and children are literally starving. (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/17/world/americas/venezuela-... Should the US open its doors to them as well and allow them to build lives for 10-15 years here as well?
22
Yes the government should allow suffering Venezuelans in, and like members of Congress have proposed, allow TPS recipients to gain permanent status.
16
Says the man who probably steps over the bum sleeping on the sidewalk without so much as giving it a thought. Let them in, the people in the homeless camps of L.A. probably want the company right?
1
Hey Vince. Africa has 200-400 million suffering people. Let them all in too? I suspect a couple hundred million Chinese would qualify. Might as well let them in also. Any limits??
3
What's interesting is how other news outlets report that Congress can legislate a permanent solution for the Salvadoran beneficiaries, yet the NYtimes doesn't mention that. Also, despite whatever misgivings the public may have about the Trump administration, what it is doing is putting pressure on Congress to get off its hands- hands it has sat on for the better part of nearly 20 years, where temporary fixes to issues such as immigration, the debt, taxes, etc. have allowed Congress to avoid legislating long term solutions.
So it's up to Congress to do its job, with pressure from the American electorate to face up to these issues and do their job.
12
And all the time I thought Trump had Ryan and McConnell's phone numbers. Silly me.
7
Making America smaller, meaner, soul-less, less economically productive by ripping apart lives, communities and economies - every single day.
Shameful and deeply sad - but those deciding these policies feel neither.
23
We owe a lot to these people displaced after all the cruel shenanigans we committed in El Salvador many years ago.
24
Amen to that! It wasRonnie Reagan*s CIA that distabilized El Salvador, so then in a country without law why do you think the Salvatrucha gang sprang up and Salvadorans fled north for a better, safer way to live!!!
11
Gee and all this time I thought an earth quake had something to do with this. If your goal is to flood the country from everywhere we've ever been involved you ought to have the courage to at least say so.
1
We don't owe them diddly squat.
SAD! Technically correct but morally wrong and inhumane. We are not that country. Vote 2018 and 2010!
15
So when Trump makes Americans poor again, and kills all those dreams of all those people and gets out of office in 7 more years after having spent 4 of them playing Golf. will the people voting for him be better off? I say no.
10
Suppose the United States had to suddenly absorb 10,000,000 people. That's what we're asking of tiny, poor El Salvador. Trump is precipitating a humanitarian crisis, and people will die as a consequence of the racist movement he leads and which sustains him. Future generations will remember this as we do the Trail of Tears and the Japanese Internment. Shame be upon our country for elevating this man to the presidency.
30
Unnecessary and cruel.
18
The sanctuary cities need to step up and defend these people.
12
YES! Send them all to Los Angeles and San Francisco. California needs more unproductive people so it can crash and burn sooner.
1
Immigrants enrich a country--look to your North--Canada is a prime example of how it works to the benefit, not the detriment of a country. Besides, if you send all of these people back, it will be crash and burn to the economies of these states--and they know it.
I am sickened by the behavior of our President. Both sides of my family came here as refugees and were it not for protections offered to them at that time, they would likely have been sent back to where they came from and killed during the genocides in their regions. I would not be here writing this and most likely there are many others who share these same circumstances. Shame on you Donald Trump.
23
The Trump administration is not only ignorant but morally abhorrent.
23
Just more proof that the so-called Christian right wingers aren't very Christ-like. Along with their pro-gun agenda.
23
I wonder if he'll deport all the Europeans , Russians, & other whites that overstay their visas ? Sad , he wants to get rid of the productive ones that have invested their lives to this country. He'd probably deport Native Americans if he could prove they'd crossed illegally thru the Bering Straits. Just simply hateful.
20
If you voted for Trump, don't tell me you're a Christian and don't say it to insult world Christians
18
To the 4 points to prioritize in the immigration debate:
1. Ending chain migration and the visa lottery; 2. Mandating employer use of E-Verify; 3. Setting up strong electronic visa screening and eventually construction of a southern border wall; and 4. Interior enforcement of immigration law.
we should add the revision of programs such as TPS.
1. Participants should be reminded that the program is temporary and agree to all conditions in writing.
2. There should be a limit in time.
3. There should be a limit in number of renewals allowed.
Over a decade in the U.S. and parents of U.S. born children and they still cannot speak English? That's an insult.
22
For many decades impoverished people fleeing war, disaster, or starvation, possibly including Mr. Trump 's forebears, wept tears of joy upon seeing the Statue of Liberty. Now, 800,000 or so hardworking, assimilated Americans, with or without their children, have been told they must leave. America used to prevent humanitarian crises. Now we cause them. Mr. Trump has brought shame upon us, shame that will last 100 years. For these hundreds of thousands of people who want only to work, strive, and raise their kids to be Americans, there are now only tears of sorrow and heartbreak, and the Lady of the Harbor weeps with them.
16
America had essentially open borders till 1920s, anyone who bought a ticket could land in Ellis island and become an American. This system was not sustainable. From 1920s, onward the law allows a limited number of immigrants. Electorates in Germany, France and Britain have all sent strong signals against high levels of immigration. Merkely could be out, Marie Le Pen almost became President. Britain left the EU ...
Mexico has a per capita income comparable to China, and higher than all the countries of South Asia and almost all countries in Africa.
Logically, if Mexicans can be illegal immigrants, so can 3 billion other people... That is the problem...
1
If we deported these people after a reasonable stay, say three years it would perhaps make sense. But letting these people to stay fifteen years after they are accustomed and adapted to the their American communities is inhuman and cruel. If overstaying is a crime our Government is certainly an accomplice to this crime.
15
I am ashamed—this in no way helps make our country 'great again.' These Salvadoran immigrants have contributed to our society for so many years, are members of our American community, have children who were born here and have attended schools here their entire lives. What are we doing?
24
Every year about 300,000 American born children leave with their parents, 90% of them are Mexicans. I met a number of families with American born children in Mexico. They did not appear to be living a miserable life.
Over time, about 6 million American born citizens are living outside the US. Only about 10% of them come and exercise their right to live in the United States.
Moving out of America is not the end of the world.... Off course standard of living will be lower, but it is not the end of the world...
Obeying the law, mostly.
With Trump's short attention span and failure to actually understand what he is doing...he may sign something where he has to deport his wife. (the third one.)
17
Why can't we keep these good hard working people and deport Trump, his family, his administration and almost everyone that voted for him.... Now that would be something .... a wish for the new year
31
The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown…
…Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation. We do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy.
The Merchant of Venice, Act 4, Scene 1
12
I support time to go home!
12
Do you personally know, or have you ever worked with any Salvadorans, or Central Americans for that matter?
I live in a community with many Central American residents. I interact with them on a weekly basis at work. These are men and women with lives and families here. They have put down roots and are building this country.
Speak not of that which you know not.
14
This country has been built for quite a while. We ceased to be a nation of immigrants when our first generation to be born and die on American soil happened. Most of us are descended from immigrants but we are no longer a nation made of immigrants. What made us so strong was because we strove to highlight what we had in common and minimize differences. Now they want to be citizens of their original country who live in America. This doesn't work.
7
Hitler’s platform was built on the idea of a “superior” race; a group who deserved a place in the country and a group who didn’t.
15
So no one ever has to leave and we can't deny entry to anyone, ever? Please name any country that goes by this way of thinking?
Time to revamp the TPS program and make it truly temporary, thus avoiding these situations.
Put a total time limit- 3-5 years, including extensions. Contact participants regularly and let them know time is running out. Help some get back home, let some stay. I would hope that most would go back to their home country and share their skills, talents, and ideas to rebuild their communities.
It is cruel to string people along year after year and then cut the thread and kick them out. They are not taking advantage of us and our generosity, kindness, etc. We let 'temporary' morph into 'semi-permanent'. They didn't put their lives on hold. They built businesses, started families, went to school, became part of the community. Kicking them out en masse is not productive or kind.
12
Time to go. They can apply like the next legal immigrant. It's not about economics; it's about legal citizenship and the process and laws that make that possible.
Besides the nations of New York City and San Francisco, there are a dozen South American and Central American nations that could use their help.
18
PhoebeS - My sentiments exactly. IMHO, and there is evidence to back this up, the America of the 1950s, is gone. America has been, and will continue to be a country where the majority of the people will be multicultural and multilingual. I ask you, what is wrong with that?
Ask a white person the question..."why shouldn't everyone who is a different color, or religion, or orientation...why shouldn't they be treated the same way you are treated, and they do not have an answer. It is apparent that those who want to make America white again has very little sense of why they want it to be so.
9
This isn't the country of 38,000,000 it was around the time the Statue of Liberty was dedicated. Thanks to almost limitless immigration, its population now stands at about 320,000,000, and is rising exponentially. And every new migrant must be fed, clothed, housed, educated, etc., straining all the systems we have for doing these things. There are hundreds of millions - no, billions - of people on this planet who can individually make the case that their lives would be better off were they to settle in the United States. Simply put, we don't have room for them all here. We need to reassert hard borders and hard immigration policies as we had when this nation was much less crowded.
22
Because, of course, these grifter immigrants do NOTHING for us or themselves, like starting businesses, contributing to the community, paying taxes, etc.
9
You can go back to the blue hills...
2
You're right of course and it drives the left crazy. They won't be happy until we overtake China and India as the most populous nation on earth. That will finally solve all our problems including immigration as we will look most every other country and no one will want to move here (or live here for that matter).
Every American citizen of age must vote early, or take a day off if necessary, out of sense of duty to save our country.
Over a million soldiers fought to make the United States a great democracy that welcomed immigrants around the world.
Women were jailed and beaten to obtain the right to vote.
African-Americans were killed, beaten and jailed in attempting to earn the right to vote unimpeded.
Recently Republicans in Congress and state capitals have suppressed the vote "with laser-like precision," gerrymandered, purged voter rolls, and even support a candidate antithetical to every previously professed party principle who gained office only through the help of the Kremlin.
Every person who can vote must vote to eject the President installed through cyber-hacking, propaganda troll farms, and strategic social media buys in swing states by Russia. He is destroying the country from within.
The United States was a beacon of hope in some of the dimmest times of human civilization.
Now the people must do their part to repel a foreign aggressor's attack on democracy through the Electoral College.
13
Trump wants merit based immigration. So evaluate these people and if the have jobs, own businesses, or are highly educated than keep them in the country. Those who are a financial burden or have a criminal record can be deported.
10
The "Dreamers" were minors when their PARENTS illegally brought them to the USA. The PARENTS committed the crimes, not their children. The children had no choice and were not adults. So logic dictates that the PARENTS should be sought out and if found alive in the USA, should be punished. The children are innocent and should be left alone.
5
I have known some Salvadorans. I have no problem with them. They clean our homes, mow our lawns, fix our roofs, scrub our toilets, pick our fruits and vegetables, slaughter our meat, babysit our kids and perform all sorts of other tasks that Americans are too spoiled and lazy to do. Pretty soon they'll be "wipers", as in the Eddie Murphy movie "Coming to America" .
If they're not troublemakers let them stay.
11
Ah, the Trump Administration's Outrage Of The Day.
The Administration's real goal of this announcement is to get that Fire And Fury book out of the headlines, at which they have apparently succeeded.
11
So, the Trump administration is more interested in deporting millions of Central Americans back to their countries who have contributed immensely to the United States economy, have created a new life for themselves and their families here, pay taxes, and are generally well-intentioned individuals who sacrifice themselves to give their children what they did not have growing up such as a formal education but consider climate change not a real issue?
Yup, good job America. This definitely demonstrates that Trump is making America "great" again.
Food for thought: How have other countries been viewing us since Trump began his presidency? Ridiculous.
14
I could not imagine overstaying my welcome, stay or visa in another country, nonetheless for 17 years! What other nation in the world would allow such a thing? Do I dare say that we are being taken advantage of? This is not proper nor respectful of our country nor its laws. Why should the Salvadorians be given special treatment unlike those from Haiti, Nicaragua and Honduras?
23
Indeed. And why should illegal aliens, that sneak into Britain in the back of trucks, be given preferential treatment over native Britons. Time for Britain to take a page from the U.S. playbook.
10
Look up "El Salvador Earthquake" which was the reason protection was granted. Then you can look up the areas affected on google maps for present day situation. While you're at it, look up CIA involvement in El Salvadorian politics. If you understand what you read, it will help you not look so utterly uninformed in your comments.
13
Hege. Clue me in. The u.s. has been involved in multiple countries around the world for better and for worse for over a 100 years. Does that mean we are now obligated to take every person from every one of those countries? Europe, Japan, Mexico, all of Central America, much of South America etc. that's like a billion or two. We should take them all in?
1
It's truly despicable that so many of those who are eager to deport hundreds of thousands of our neighbors, tear apart their families, and deprive them of their livelihood, call themselves "Christians."
Didn't Jesus say that "whatsoever you do to the least of these, you do for me"?
If Jesus himself wanted to come to the U.S. now - a poor, brown-skinned man from the Middle East, espousing a religion unfamiliar to many of our so-called Christians - since it's based on love, mercy, charity to the poor and the outsider - no doubt He would be detained by the INS and deported.
30
It continues to boggle the mind to behold what a cruel country we've become.
28
He should do all this right. The wall is a waste of money. Rather put the whole country under a dome. No one could even parachute in. He is doing this anyway by taking your country out of international trade, vacating the field in Asia to China --after all the bluster how he would deal with them. He is making America laughing stock and poorer country again--cant remember the last time and I am over 70.
14
Simply an utterly inhuman decision. I am ashamed!
16
It is so sad many people voted for Trump while pounding their chests claiming we Americans need all those jobs back, but at the same time those same people are incapable of voting for someone to take on big corporations outsourcing literally millions of jobs overseas. Why Trump doesn't take on the likes of Apple, and Microsoft? Why can't Apple phones be made in America? Why can't I get to talk with an american when I call customer service on any product? Why doesn't Trump take against that? Why can't the patriotic Trump voters take on that? if you tell me Apple phones are cheaper cause they are not made in America you would have a hard time explaining me why Apple has 25 billion dollars surplus cash in the bank. or maybe you have lost conscience that at $900 per phone Apple is not selling you the phone any cheaper.
Maybe the entire problem is just that Trump gives racist people a good excuse to make them feel they have a valid patriotic excuse to take on against brown people doing dishwashing and landscaping. Maybe Trump makes them voters feel their racism is validated.
Be it as it may, this is not just Trumps fault, it is also the fault of all those who voted for him. it is time for us here in America to stop passing the buck and start taking responsibility for our own actions.
14
The Trump administration's decision is cruel from a humanitarian perspective, and totally stupid from an economic one. These people have made their lives in the USA, and by all accounts are good citizens, working hard, paying taxes, and eager to be Americans. They contribute to the economy here in important ways, and they support people in their home countries, helping to grow the economy there. Deporting them will destroy their lives and will lessen the American culture and economy. It's a bad decision all around.
12
Just how does the U.S. government plan to deport 200,000 people?
15
Create incentives for self-deportation.
3
The same way you fix our entire immigration mess. E-verify, no chain migration, end birthright citizenship. If you can't work or have u.s. Citizen kids and get those benefits, the advantageous of being here dry up. Most of the rest of the world does this now. It's just considered racist if we do it.
2
El Salvador's president Duarte was a CIA agent. The US supported an impressive collection of brutal dictators in Central America. The 'Pine Apple', Somoza, Rios Montt to name a few. Let's not forget the affair Eugene Hasenfuss. The US administration at the time sold weapon's to arch-enemy Iran to raise money for a rubber-booted insurgency based in Honduras to overthrow the Ortega bros in Nicaragua. Despite these efforts nothing was achieved, only leaving a region in turmoil which spawned dysfunctional governments and continuing waves of emigration.
You break it, you own it!
11
Unfortunately President Clinton and the Democratic Congress in 1992-1994 took no action to further expose the wrongdoing from Iran-Contra beyond what Lawrence Walsh already had because reportedly President Clinton himself had been roped in and was up to his arms in it. Mena, Arkansas and all that. Thus, just like the unwillingness of President Obama and the Democratic Congress in 2008-2010 to hold the Bush-Cheney neo-con war criminals accountable for the lies of Iraq and to bring charges for treason, etc. and to further open examination and investigation of 9/11, it was just turn the page, turn the page, turn the page. So many of us have learned the hard way that the Democrats of the last 25 years have no interest in trying to bring accountability for the lies and shenanigans of the national security state and their GOP enablers, perhaps because it is a fully bipartisan enabling. Frank Church is rolling in his grave.
5
200,000 deported means around, what, a million lives ripped and wrenched apart, not to mention the economic harm. And for what? Really...for what? No solid, unassailable reasons have been given.
27
The Statue of Liberty says Give me your tired, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free. America is a land full of immigrants who have made exceptional contributions to this country. We are a nation of humanity. Under 45 only Euro immigrants are welcome.
9
When one lives and works in a certain country attachments and connections begin to form. Families are established. Children born in the United States from Salvadorean parents are Americans in every sense. What civilized leader demands to undo these very human developments? What civilized society wants to tear apart families and destroy communities?
Or is this how a genius and very very very mentally stable mind works? If so, I want no part of such a brain.
16
Deporting the Dreamers - Now this. He's playing to his crowd
Can't believe what this man is doing to people and to America.
17
What an absolutely hateful excuse for a human being Trump is. How could so many Americans been so wrong? American Exceptionalism? I think not.
DD
Manhattan
20
There are parallels of such vicious acts in history. Spanish kings expelling Jews from Spain many centuries ago is one example. Following their example in the 21st century is not something to be proud of.
17
This decision is morally wrong on every level. Even supporting this decision is morally wrong. There is a special place in Hell for those who would send refugees back to the place that made them refugees in the first place.
We should allow these people to remain here. At the same time, we should deport Donald Trump, who defames America with every breath he takes.
11
What a contemptuous excuse of a President! This country has fallen far indeed!
11
We need a terrifically huge 2.86 million people march on Washington to show this President whose country this is.
13
Posing a question - is it possible that El Salvador could be a country that people in the US feel positively about? Could it be a good thing for El Salvador if the people who left, spent time in the US, developed their skills and talents, went back to El Salvador and helped to strengthen that country. Or do we in the US with our superior view of ourselves think that the US is the only best place, for everyone to live, so that once someone gets into the country they should stay here because we are so much better than any place else? I believe that many liberals (myself included until being challenged significantly in conversations with people whose views differ from mine) fall prey to that belief - that you should live here because the US is the best place. So I ask myself - how then would a country like El Salvador ever become a great country if we in the US take and keep all the people who come here - the brave people willing to risk all for a better life - that really ends up not being better for many of them. Could we spend money to help people resettle in El Salvador, start small businesses, attend college, do things that would help them and help their country? or is the US the only place in the world for people to live? Could the US become a net exporter of talent? a place where people come - through guest worker programs - to develop their skills, and then go home to strengthen their own country, and help people who don't have the resources or hutzpah to leave??
7
Interesting idea but look at the reality. They arrive from other countries, then they never leave. Deport these families if you want. They will stay here illegally.
The system is broken.
4
For those of you who think kicking out TPS recipients is a good policy move, you are scoring a Pyrrhic victory.
Many TPS recipients have U.S.-born children. Some TPS recipients will opt to stay here illegally, and some will split their families. Some will decamp with their families--including their U.S.-born children--to El Salvador. All of those choices are terrible for the U.S.-born children... and hence for us.
We are weakening family ties, imperiling their educational possibilities, and worsening their outcomes in many ways. But these U.S.-born children are already our citizens. And, in worsening outcomes for them, we worsen outcomes for ourselves.
In addition, those kids will eventually turn 21 and have the right to legally petition for their parents to come to the U.S. So, we should consider most individuals in the TPS programs as de facto immigrants.
9
It is hard not to despair about where the US is going with every single decree and pronouncement on policy which this incredibly cruel and thoughtless man,
'THE STABLE GENIUS" continues to make which creates such misery for so many.
Those who enable him hold some responsibility.
It is so distressing to read, let alone have to be the people who are made to pay for the decisions of this despicable man. We weep for our American friends, and for the people who are victims of this administration. Where does it end?
10
My heart breaks. I just hate this administration and everything they stand for.
29
They should love their country and want to return. Goodbye.
9
Guess you didn't read the part where it said they had kids that were born in the US! The US is the only country they know ..so they already are living in "their" country!
9
I'd wager they pay more taxes than he does.
22
2001 earthquake..You've got to be kidding. This sums up all that is wrong withUS immigration policy under both Democrats and Republicans.
14
Congress has had years to pull together a cohesive immigration policy and address these issues.
This is what happens when you ignore the issue. Time has not eliminate the rule of law only delayed it
These refugees should have been either repatriated or put through the process for full citizenship years ago.
This is not a Trump issue. He's the poor guy stuck cleaning up the mess.
12
We should have compassion for refugees, but misplaced compassion can have the opposite effect. Our embassies in foreign countries tell everyone not to come here without a visa, unless of course they bribe officials and pay some smugglers and get here. Real refugees don't have the means to manipulate the system.
6
Someday, and I pray that this day comes before I pass away, human beings will take the next step in development and come to the realization that every one of us has a responsibility to provide an equal economic opportunity for every citizen of Earth, that borders are meaningless and that provincialism and protectionism serve no purpose other than to hinder the progress that we all could make towards a more peaceful and prosperous future.
15
Yes, when all societies have ceased with overpopulation this will be possible. Until then, nations that have achieved zero or negative population growth will need to protect their societies from the never-ending overflow of desperate people from societies who have not. Charity/birth control begins at home.
6
Last month the Congressional Budget Office released a report saying that if amnesty is given to DACA people, it will cost American taxpayers 26 billion because they will be eligible to receive all government benefits. These 200,000 Salvadorans will also cost this country. They were given Temporary, emphasis on the word, temporary, status and now they demand the right to become citizens. They have no right to demand anything.
18
What you're leaving out of your calculations is how much these Salvadorans, DACA people, and other immigrants CONTRIBUTE to our economy and our communities through their hard work, the taxes, including Social Security taxes, they pay and the essential jobs they fill that most Americans simply won't do.
Meantime, what about all those white Anglos waiting for coal and steel jobs to come back - which won't happen, btw - while refusing to train for 21st century jobs with a future? What about all the government benefits THEY'RE collecting - for decades?
6
doy1, Salvadorans, DACA people and illegal immigrants do not CONTRIBUTE enough to make up for the amount of money they take from the government in welfare, food stamps, subsidized housing, health care and education, not to mention the overcrowding of our schools, hospitals, highways, mass transportation, etc. Their financial burden to middle class taxpayers overwhelmingly outweighs their contributions.
1
I keep reading comments about all these contributions these people make and yet have not seen a shred of evidence. I could claim that each and every one of these people are serial killers with equal validity. Show me something!
I work at a school in a community near Sylmar. We’ve been working hard to assure our students have high literacy skills and are prepared for STEM careers.
One issue that I see: when these families are sent back to El Salvador, they will take their American born children with them. Will those Americans have access to a good education? Not likely.
So when these Anericans return in the future as adults, will they be ready to contribute to the economy? Or would it make more sense to assure the children are raised and go to school here?
It is bad economic policy to send these families back.
12
A person robs another at gunpoint of twenty bucks and is incarcerated at the cost of 40K a year for twenty years. That's bad economic policy! Let us allow any crime whose cost of punishment is more than the cost of the crime to go free. Is that a legal system you can live with?
The fact that these protections haven’t become permanent after more than a decade is a travesty.
How are you supposed to live somewhere for 16 years without putting down roots?
Can you imagine?
12
We cannot be the caregivers of the world. Do we start to take in citizens from every corner of the earth? Look what is happening in Europe with all the refugees they have admitted into their countries. They are overwhelmed with immigrants and it just keeps on getting worse. They are exploding and soon it will happen here unless we put a stop to it.
We cannot absorb all of these people and we have American citizens who need help. We must think of them. They have families too and we are placing the immigrants needs over those of Americans. To say that our citizens will not do the work that immigrants have been doing is false. When you are desperate you will take any job that you can find to feed and support your families. These people who number in the hundreds of thousands have taken many jobs from us. This is not right. They knew it was a temporary fix and now they must return to their own countries. We have been treated like Uncle Sap and the reason the voters elected Donald Trump as president.
You can blame the two previous presidents, Bush and Obama, for causing this predicament we find ourselves in. They just let these people flood our country without any limits. It must come to an end.
12
I'm afraid that everything you say in your post is untrue.
Undocumented immigrants have not taken jobs from Americans. The country has almost full employment.
There has not been a "flood" of them in almost two decades. Illegal immigration is at net zero.
You are a victim of enormous lies and refuse to read the simple truth explained in articles such as this one. You are associating yourself with racists and xenophobes.
2
Most would likely qualify as refugees, at the very least they would get a fair hearing by an impartial commission. But uprooting them is just plain inhumane and cruel beyond words. I for one would welcome them in this country, hardworking immigrants built this country (not to mention the USA)and they sure are needed here.
On another note, more and more people I know are refusing to travel to USA or to buy anything that is made there. I find this very sad considering our long shared history, we have fought wars together, married each other, and used to share the same values. On the other hand it’s an understandable reaction to recent events.
I can only hope that sanity returns to your once great country.
24
Seconded.
7
I am currently visiting another country and it is extremely embarrassing to admit that I am an American People look at me with sympathy and sadness and they do not understand why we are putting up with this person who claims to be a leader of our country. Please dont even say this is a Democracy and Trump was voted in. if this were truly a democracy, Trump would not be in office. We have never had a democracy it is a Democratic Republic created to protect the wealthy and take advantage of the poor.
17
I had the same experience recently in Germany. It was sad. Nobody was mean. They seemed understanding that sometimes good people are ruled by bad ones. And they would know.
10
This is perfectly in keeping with the intent of the program, which many on the left would rather have as a back door to permanent citizenship and see as an expansion of their voter base. Those who were given the privilege of temporary refugee status have always known it wouldn't last forever and should be grateful their home country has returned to a level of normalcy that allows their return. After all, 29,000 of them have already voluntarily made that choice.
16
Marshall, I would think that that coming from a predominately Roman Catholic country, many would have become Republican voters if given the chance, because of reproductive concerns and the abortion issue.
4
Unfortunately that correlation doesn't hold true. Statistically, most U.S. Catholics are Democrats.
1
I'm too tired to research it tonight, Marshall; but, if what you say is true, why do you suppose that is?
1
The United States, by its support of governmental death squads in an effort to thwart "communism," is directly responsible for the dire conditions in El Salvador today. We have a responsibility to these people. But then Trump knows no history, and his minions do not care. An immigrant is an immigrant.
15
If it indeed thwarted communism then money well invested.
I don't recall immigrants being on the top-ten list of things on people's minds until conservative evangelical Republicans suggested it. Now it's number one on the hit parade. I wonder why.
9
Trump's war against California if I had to guess.
8
Add Jeff Sessions to the war on CA!
4
Add 4M Californians who are fed up with illegal immigration.
Did those who arrived on the Mayflower enter legally? We are a nation of immigrants, that what has made us a great nation. Midterms this November. Get involved and make America right again!
23
Trump’s message is MAGA. So how can this decision possibly Make America Great Again? Making these Salvadorans leave the country is as unnecessary as it is cruel. It will do nothing to help the US economy, and it will devastate the lives of these people, probably tearing their lives and their families apart.
The US is famous for its humanity. This will destroy the US’s reputation for that. From across the Pond, it looks as if Trump and his administration are not Making America Great Again, but Making America Small Again. There is nothing “Great” about this decision; on the contrary, it is small-minded and petty. It goes against everything we foreigners think of when we think of America and Americans. For God’s sake, Mr Trump, have mercy on these poor souls.
17
What about the children who were born here to these families?
This is another example of Trump pandering to his supporters who absolutely have no value for anyone they consider not a real American.
Anyone who thinks Congress is going to do anything about this is only fooling themselves.
This country is going to be hated by every group of people there are in our world.
9
You should ask your question of the parents who disobeyed the law.
5
The parents were permitted to be here, now they are being told to leave.
Your point is?
5
Reader, the parents did not disobey the law. They were and are here legally, as their refugee status was extended numerous times by our government LEGALLY.
8
Highly likely these persons read and signed an agreement that recognized the temporary nature of their stay in this country before they crossed our border. Now they want to reverse that promise? Nonsense. Send ‘em home.
14
Obviously, this and many other things will be reversed in Jan 2019.
7
So, what's gonna happen to the social security and Medicare taxes that were withheld from their paychecks since at least 2001? Will the taxes be refunded? Of course not. They will forfeit their anticipated benefits because they no longer live in the US. Ultimately, Americans will become the beneficiaries of this injustice. By the way, the same can be said about Haitians, Nicaraguans, and in the near future, of Hondurans whose protected status expired or will expire in the near future. The same can be said about DACA recipients. What a scam.
11
Crime does not pay does it. These used far more in services (especially is they sent kids to school) than they ever paid in taxes. The SS tax can be considered a work permit fee for the years of illegal presence.
5
They are not here illegally! They were given permission to stay.
8
A small thank you.
Finally, the government is putting America first.
Here’s a thought, if your country is a mess - don’t abandon your country - stay there and fix it.
Also, if another country is kind enough to let you enter temporarily, don’t expect to stay permanently. Temporary means “not permanent.”
Wait for those who despise personal responsibility to shout “racism.”
16
Refugees don't "abandon" their country. They are fleeing for their lives.
Just as you would were your family threatened.
Your post typifies the callous ignorance of the average Trump voter.
2
So which group is next?
11
Since many Trump/GOP supporters don't care about the 'moral' aspect of this mass deportation of hard-working families, I beg the NYT to report on the financial repercussions of deporting tax-paying, home-buying immigrants. If its 'the economy stupid' maybe that's the argument to make.
How much SSI is lost, which communities will suffer the most? (Immigrants rent apts., purchase goods and services along with contributing to the local, state and federal tax base!)
10
What a travesty! I would hope for an alternative path to permanent resident status for these individuals, whose homeland has been devastated by war/natural disasters, have lived in the USA and contributed to our society for almost two decades, and whose childrens' home is here.
5
What did Canada ever do to Trump? All he ever does is lie about NAFTA, attack his best ally, and try to break its asylum system by flooding it with refugees.
6
Heard on NPR today, Salvadoran couple came here on a TOURIST VISA 17 years ago and are worried they might be deported. As well they should.
23
It’s time for a 2.86 million people march on Washington so this President can see, if not understand, whose country this is.
10
Once again, Christian leadership is failing us. Despite ample guidance in the Old and New Testaments on such matters, the silence is deafening.
9
Personally, I`d rather live in a country with 200,000 Salvadorans than I would a country with single member of the Trump family in it.
44
Trump and his minions are just plain mean.
8
This...this is what we have become? Shame.
9
he y come on in...No requirements...It's the American way..and I need another gardener.
1
It's not a matter of if they pay taxes, their contribution to the economy, or how great their presence makes the USA. It is a question of are we going to condone ethnic cleansing in this century and in this country, of all places. Any congressperson who is silent on this tonight is a low-life.
6
People on all sides of the debate have an ethnicity. Any outcome can be described as ethnic cleansing if one wants to be melodramatic.
4
You've been here for all these years yet never wanted to assimilate by learning English and using it predominately? NO one comes here to be American and be American like anymore! They come here and try to turn America into the same as the countries they came from! They use our kindness against us by protesting and using our court systems against us! We are such good people when we are doing for everyone, but as soon as our kindness finally has to end, we are the bad guys? We saved them from years of war! We saved them from destruction at home! BUT, how and why do we have to keep letting everyone into our country? There is a legal path to citizenship...has any one of these people taken the time to apply for it? Or, are they too good to in line behind those who have been in line for years already?
Should these people (who can go home to a country not at war) take the place of those needing to come here because of war in their country...like Syrians?
There are 2 to 3 hundred thousand Salvadorians who would make a great start at making their country great again! Or is that simply too hard to do for their country?
18
“We saved them” ?? In reality the US government goes destroys, controls, and impoverished those nations. Be real!!
7
I am not sure where in the article you see any reference to TPS recipients' ability or willingness to speak English. TPS recipients likely mirror other immigrants in their willingness and ability to use English: nearly all want to become proficient in English and about 34 percent of non-U.S.-born Hispanics eventually attain complete proficiency. Like me. Similarly, about 89 percent of U.S.-born-Hispanics speak English proficiently.
As for your assertion that Hispanics come here to "try to turn America into the same as the countries they came from," that is also not an accurate statement. Again, Pew research shows that among second-generation Hispanics, beliefs and attitudes mirror the beliefs and attitudes of non-foreign-born Americans. I exhort you to Google this topic for more information. But, our country continues to have an amazing capacity to absorb immigrants and turn out Americans.
Finally, I wanted to address your assertion that El Salvador is not in the middle of a war. If you look at their murder and crime statistics, you will see their death rate is actually as high as the death rate in many war torn countries... including Syria. And, our policies and decisions certainly helped to create the gang problem that makes El Salvador an unsafe country.
7
Add to that the death rate in Chicago.
1
And the point is? Oh, must be playing to the base again. Have any of the Salvadoran people committed serious crimes of which they have been convicted? Have they been good citizens during the time spent in the US? What a heartless and politically stupid move! This will be duly noted by the Hispanic and Latino communities and others. More frightening, it tells us that approximately 40% of the public support this ugly behavior. This is very frightening. Who will be the next to be removed?
11
You'd be surprised how the Latino community feels. Those who have obeyed our laws, stood in line and actually became proud US Citizens the right and legal way. You assume they all side with those who broke laws to get here. You are misinformed.
5
Trying to force the Dems hand on the wall and get back at California.
5
Queensgrl,
The Salvadorians have broken no laws. They are in the US legally. Their kids who were born in the US are citizens, just like you.
Try reading. You might learn something.
1
Sure makes you proud to be an American, doesn't it?
6
Very proud thank you.
MAGA !!!
1
I am a US citizen who 13 months ago was forced to move from an Asian country where I had been very productively employed for 9 years. Immigration policies of that country changed 7 years ago for nearly the same reasons as they do now in USA. A political climate of job and life insecurity amongst voters fosters protectionism and usually reduces productivity and long term growth and thusly long term job creation globally. We are not in a world now that recognizes externalities of modern economics. That is true for Britain exiting Europe and many countries forcing out foreign countries because an open economy has left many voters feeling disenfranchised. I cannot blame the voters of my Asian country for they were left behind as housing prices went up and their jobs remained stagnant. I dont like Trump polices or the policies of this Asian country, but until politics attend to the needs of the disenfranchised, modern economics will be set back.
15
This is a cruel decision to satisfy the anti-immigrant president's base at the cost of human lives. Finally, the country can see a couple of hundred thousand people expelled who had been here under protections granted and extended over 16 years. They will be forced to return where their lives will be at risk from criminal gangs. Companies will lose some of their trained and productive workers in important trades - plumbers, electricians, carpenters, etc. And to make it a particularly nasty blow, the Trump Administration will try to pass the buck to Congress, knowing that the Republicans who control it will hardly want to displease Trump's base by passing laws either for DACA or TPS beneficiaries.
14
If they Salvadorans and any other foreigner has not taken the legal steps to become a legal resident of the United States, they do not belong here. They are breaking the law. The United States is not the only country with harsh and strict immigration policies. Try getting a job in the European union or in Asia or the Middle East without proper sponsorship and the onerous paperwork. It's ridiculous that the Trump administration and immigration officials are getting heat for enforcing the law.
There are plenty of new immigrants from all over the world who have waited patiently, spent thousands of dollars, and worked diligently to become legal residents and deserve to be called Americans as a result. If you are here illegally, you need to go. You are breaking the law.
19
Peter,
So many of you supporting Trump simply don't read.
The Salvadorians are in the US LEGALLY.
They were welcomed as refugees. They have established lives there. Their children are US citizens.
They take nothing from you. Why are you vindictive towards them?
1
There must be some responsibility taken for having allowed these people to stay for so long that they have become part of society. After a certain amount of time, their stay obviously became not temporary, and after that, there should have been a process for them to acquire citizenship. It's not too late. Were they expected to not have a life?
20
Donald M. Kerwin Jr.: Rescinding protection for Salvadorans a “baffling ideological decision that is extraordinarily destructive on all ends. They are deeply vested and embedded in the U.S.”
He gets it exactly right. This is cruel and unfair, not only to Salvadorans working and paying taxes in the U.S., but to families in Salvador that depend on their income as well. It also hurts businesses in the U.S. that depend on the labor of these people who have put down roots here and contribute to this country through their hard work.
Ending TPS will break up families with children who have been born in the U.S. Lawmakers need to create a pathway for citizenship for these people, not criminalize them!
9
Let's be clear: this is happening now at the same time we are entertaining Oprah's potential Presidential candidacy, and debating Trump's mental state. Evil is being done--by many people--while we are distracted.
Haitians in the country as refugees are no longer protected. Salvadorans are no longer protected. Nicaraguans are no longer protected. Hondurans are next on the list, as are Dreamers. The vast majority of these folks have children who were born here, making them American citizens, yet they are likely to be deported along with their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
12
I'm 53 years old and remember when the country had 260 million people, not 320 million like it does today. Things were a LOT BETTER then. You could drive on the highway and see the country; now you have to watch out for road rage. You could take a pleasant walk down a city street. We have too many people in this country and when the climate change shite hits the fan things are going to get worse, a lot worse. We need to take steps now. No one promised these people a permanent home.
7
I'm a few years older than you. I went to grad school in New York in the 80s. The city then was a pit of pestilence, dirty, dangerous and crowded. Times Square was loaded with pimps, drug dealers and various other crazies. I've been to the city a few times recently. It's a LOT BETTER NOW.
EVERYONE, no matter how old they are, thinks things were "better" back then. The truth is that YOU were better. YOU had more energy, YOU were better looking, and YOU had more hopes and dreams. It's called nostalgia and I experience here in Hawaii, in my home state of California, other places I've lived like Seattle, even Texas.
In 40 years, you'll have 60-year olds who remember here--wherever that is--and now as the best time ever in their lives.
You want to have cheap housing, no crowds? Go live in a red state. Plenty of space there. Just be prepared when your kids decide to live for someplace more interesting.
I cannot for any reason understand the wrongheaded, cruel and inhumane decision behind this vindictive action disguised as a policy. If the TPS was of a temporary nature then it should have been enacted accordingly and people should have been made aware of that.
After more than twenty years living in the United States most of these people have become fully integrated in American society. They work, pay taxes, own property and pretty much live an "American" life in all regards save their precarious legal status.
For the children the situation is even more daunting and cruel. These children were born in the United States and know no other home besides the one they've lived in for the entirety of their lives.
The Salvadorans, Nicaraguans, Hondurans and other people living in the US as a result of the TPS have done everything that was expected of them. They build a life for themselves and their families. They went to school, found jobs, became taxpayers and full fledged members of their communities. And now they are being shown the door like they are yesterday's trash.
The idea that all these people cannot be given some kind of reprieve or amnesty and a path towards landed status and citizenship is ridiculous.
What if Donald Trump's wife Melania was suddenly told she can no longer live in the US?! What if she and her child were deported back to Slovenia? What if Ivanka Trump and her mother were deported back to the Czech Republic?
41
Yes, if only we knew that the program with the word temporary and it’s name wasn’t permanent.
12
If the United States keeps taking all the good people from El Salvador and Honduras how are those countries going to get better?
26
Maybe the US should have never meddled in central america in the first place..
7
I happen to agree with you on this, but it is conjecture. The fact is that people are already here, have been for a long time, have children who are American citizens. How would you react if you faced deportation? Deportation of a group of law-abiding people is ethnic cleansing.
5
Trump should be consistently brutal and ship the Cubans, Vietnamese, Hmong, Mien, and Lao back where they came from. They were refugees and built lives, created families, and started business here just like the refugees from El Salvador. How sad a capricious.
9
Chaos is not a way to govern.
13
What happened to America. From the bravest most compassionate people on the planet, to the most timorous; seemingly afraid of your own shadows: and with hearts of stone. Just. Can’t. Believe. It.
31
Not all of us, Bard. Not even a majority, but they're the ones in power at the present time. This will pass, though nowhere near quickly enough.
I. Just. Can't. Believe. It. Either.
9
If this does happen, I expect that many will cross over to Canada and claim refugee status, and likely be granted it. It will be our gain and your loss I’m afraid. But the inhumanity inflicted on these folks is beyond comprehension, imagine yourself in their shoes for a moment and it’s enough to make you weep.
3
Making a case in this video did not hit home with me. The guy has been here for decades and can't or will not speak english. They say x number have jobs; then print a list. Low to mid level at best. 5 billion being sent overseas/home in remittances. Then you deduct what is left here. Compare to taxpayers benefits absorbed; and you are left with a big negative. Now... if they were Americans; I'd say make the jump to help; but they are not Americans. If you feel like helping; then please sign a petition; so we can take the losses out of your paycheck. If you have any money left; we will take it and give it to others around the world who need it (if you wish). It we are still at a negative; then we will evenly distribute the debt amongst every one who signs the petition. If you think that is unfair; we can take it form every liberal in the country. Though when that happens; I'm sure there will be no more argument. Liberals want policy change and socialism and charity to others around the world; as long as it comes form everyone else's paycheck as well; or others give first... they are just the cheer leaders in many respects. Irregardless of whether people vote that way or not. Like Obamacare gifting liberal states and cities; yet payed for in everyone taxes; even though many are not allowed such programs. Now that Team Trump has cut down on perks; who do you think are hurt the most by perks. Yup the dems are crying that they are unfairly targeted. Guess what; no kidding.
26
Sorry Larry am not convinced.
6
Actually, the man does speak some English - certainly enough to communicate with his English-speaking boss and the company's clients. But since Spanish is his first language, he probably needs to speak in Spanish for more complex expression.
His son in the video clearly speaks excellent English - and his grandchildren who are born here speak the same non-accented English as their Anglo peers.
Many non-English speaking European immigrants of decades or centuries past followed the same pattern as this Salvadoran family - others primarily their original language, for example, German, for generations.
5
I understand these people are coming in search of a better life...but at whose expense? The majority are neither skilled nor educated. They often have larger than average families & their kids are given automatic birth citizenship (per this article, 192,700 American-born children for 200,000 immigrants). The woman in this article seems typical, living here for decades, yet airing her grievances through an interpreter, because she saw no need to learn English. Her family receives free health insurance & government subsidies.
Note the billions of dollars these different immigrants are sending out of the country. That is not helping the US economy. If families are sending a significant portion of their earnings out of the country, is it any wonder they need taxpayer subsidies & government assistance?
The immigration system in this country is broken. Our existing immigration laws are simply ignored. Of course, anyone lucid enough to articulate this obvious reality is promptly labeled a heartless bigot, racist or white supremacist.
This is how our country ended up so divided on immigration.
I am sick of the hypocrisy of all who exploit our system...I am not just thinking of immigrants, but the entire 'system': lawyers, politicians, the media, advocacy groups, corporate America wanting cheap labor, the governments of these immigrants which love the cash inflow back into their countries, etc.
Let's welcome true refugees & reform U.S. immigration to make it legal & merit-based.
37
Shame on you. This awful minority of Trump voters is poisoning this country.
2
they are not living off of our $. they pay taxes, just like i do. And who is going to do the scut work when all of the refuges are gone?
4
The contractor who won big contracts painting government buildings is not sowing scutwork. He is, however, taking jobs away from American companies.
5
Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, Dick Durbin and Nancy Pelosi along with President Obama could have changed the TPS law at any time during the first 2 years of the Obama Presidency. Or with bipartisan support during the last 6. They did nothing with their pens and their phones for the TPS folks.
20
The same is true for George W Bush who granted extension after extension.
8
Confused,
Confused indeed, and with a short memory.
The Democrats had a filibuster-proof majority for only two months in 2009.
The GOP blocked every effort at immigration reform.
This is recent, not ancient, history. Look it up.
2
Most mean spirited administration in the history of the republic.
16
What's mean is expecting US citizens to support illegals with healthcare, schooling, lower wages for US workers, higher housing costs, etc.
6
Reader,
I don't understand how so many of your trolling posts are being allowed through, given that they have nothing to do with the LEGAL status of the Salvadorian refugees, and are nothing but lies.
1
Not my president. Not my America.
31
Great !
We don’t need people who refuse to acknowledge our legally elected leaders, and disavow our country.
There’s room on the planes to El Salvador, hop on.
When the plane lands, I’d suggest you respect their government more than you do ours.
9
@James
Alexander Hamilton, you ain’t!
5
James,
Galfrido speaks for the majority of Americans.
You and your racist minority are in power because of an atavistic technicality called the Electoral College.
Like all dictatorships, the hope you inspire is that your time will be brief, and that the US will be returned to the people.
1
I have no words. Only tears.
11
The Law cuts both ways, we protected you, now go home. You might also consider saying thanks.
18
You need also to see thank you to them for cooking your meals in the restaurants plus and most importantly clean your house
7
Frank,
"We protected you." That's an outright lie.
The US government protected the ruthless Salvadorian dictatorship, which sponsored death squads to kill its political opponents. They also murdered US citizens.
The Salvadorian refugees went to the US to escape US-supported terrorism in their own country. The United States owes them, not the other way around.
2
Will somebody please ask this POTUS the questions of citizenship examination? Does he qualify?
17
Maybe Canada will offer asylum?
10
I spent a couple years in El Salvador, returning in 2015, so have somewhat recent experience there. It is a hellish, psychotically violent place. I don't buy into the line that the utter misery of that country is the United States' fault - there are plenty of others to blame, not least entrenched elites who act like poverty is a congenital condition then do everything in their power to keep 2/3 of the country desperate, illiterate, and penniless. But so many formerly poor Salvadorans have through TPS and other programs found a path to middle-class success in the US that the Salvadoran papers are full of tear-jerking stories about kid who got into MIT or Harvard... The bottom line is that even the poorest Salvadorans have proven themselves hardworking, humble, and talented people given the right opportunity. And the vast majority also law-abiding with traditional values. And now we reward them with.... a racist pogrom straight out of Nazi Germany. The United States has changed beyond recognition. I wonder if we can ever go back.
59
J. Smith,
While I agree with the gist of your post, I disagree on one thing.
The US actively supported the Salvadorian dictatorship and its death squads with military aid.
The US government helped to create the refugee crisis and owes it to its Salvadorian population to make amends.
1
This is a pattern. I have read many peoples comments. I ask you this. Did anyone from El S. Take or threaten your job? I'm sure 99% is no. I'm tired of the "bring jobs back," I would like "man not to be lazy" that would fix a lot. But it's easier to scream MAGA and deport people who In my opinion are more worthy to be on America's sacred land then the people on the cable and print constantly complaining.
We shall see if all this #nevertrump #metoo #fixit #notmypresident comes to fruition when we need it most in November. I would love to see all the FB IG Meme posts make a rallying call.
If not. Say goodbye to great and wonderful humble people who already cower and fear in "our" wake.
It's time to show them and the world that we are an ocean of beauty who will always accept all fellow humans.
1Love.
SG
16
Is George Orwell alive? If he is, he should be super proud about how well this rotten society of ours applies his precepts.
Where did this Derelict "acquired" his wives?
Oh! .... forgot. Not in Latin America but close to Russia.
I am so nauseated with what's happening that can't cotinue writing anything else.
ENOUGH!
RESIST!
REMOVE!
16
When did Americans become so mean? I'm not talking about the policy of this ridiculous administration, but the many commenters here who are publicly and without shame demonstrating an abject lack of decency. This is appalling. You guys are appalling.
28
Your house is damaged. I invite you to stay with me. A year later I ask you to leave and go back to your own place. That makes me a bad guy?
28
Continuing with your analogy, let's say your neighbor is going back to a house that is still damaged. Perhaps the electrical wiring is still wonky. (And to make the analogy even more applicable, fifty years ago you helped the neighbor put in the wiring--but you did a shoddy job.) Lo and behold, a fire starts, and the fire eventually engulfs a part of your house.
So, yeah, you might have had every right to remand your neighbor vacate your property. But, you were shortsighted for doing so.
7
How is he going to fix his house if he refuses go and fix and stays and mooches as the neighbor's?
4
A terrible cruelty to families. El Salvador is a dangerous mess partly because of U.S. policies.
And I can think of no other administrations ordering refugees to return.
Irish: The famine is over. Go home.
Jews: Hitler is gone. Go back home.
Is it just co-incidence that this is happening to Haitians, Nicaraguans and other brown-skinned people?
21
"Temporary" is exactly that. Why didn't these folks pursue a change in status over the last 20 years? Why didn't Congress act years ago? Congress isn't "hope"--it's their job to make immigration law the Executive Branch executes. Trump merely stated the obvious: "temporary" has run its course and Congress needs to come up with a permanent solution.
19
They WERE offered a change in status- they were offered extensions.
Congress raises $$$ hating on immigrants so it is a solvable problem but not by our GOP Congress.
Trump has no sense of proportion so doing hateful things for a shrinking base makes sense to this man with no conscience. Getting rid of the Congress and getting problem solvers with some sense is the first order of business.
7
We'd have to take in the whole world! What part of the globe isn't affected by strife, poverty or natural disaster? It isn't feasible. FACT.
25
We would not have to take in the whole world. That is hyperbole. Many parts of the world are quite stable, politically and economically. Even in places where the instability is minor or moderate, many people prefer to stay due to a combination of patriotism, family ties, cultural considerations, logistical problems associated with a move, and other factors.
Also, many parts of the world are affected by political and economic strife that U.S. leaders helped create. El Salvador happens to be one of these places. Oh, I don't mean to suggest we are solely to blame; elites there helped us create the political, social, and economic conditions that make it such an unstable country. But, we definitely share in the responsibility.
So, if you don't want the country to get more brown, then demand that U.S. leaders encourage better policies and better governance in other countries. The same goes for natural disasters. Our decision to abandon every climate accord will only increase the number of catastrophes... and the number of would-be immigrants.
And, finally, don't forget that if your life depended on it, you too would flee.
8
This is yet another example of producing empty slogans but not actually solving a problem. It is quite childish to say put "T'" back on T.P.S. Yes, these people stay here with temporary status for years, not months. Yes, there must be a solution to this situation. But, it is obvious that a good percentage of these people are hard working, law abiding citizens doing all they can to better their lives and others'. No sane human being can claim that deporting these people to a unfamiliar place while they are contributing to welfare of our society is a solution that our country will benefit. When did we become so merciless and without empathy. This is not about hiring American or illegal immigrant crime. This is an outright act of cruelty based on all things that are against what this great nation stands for. It is really heartbreaking to see that the guy with a bigger nuclear button, his enablers and most of the republican politicians are simply ignoring all these principles what makes us human. I hope it is not too late to do the right thing in a bipartisan, American way.
13
What a loss. This country was founded on, and continues to grow and thrive on, immigration. A good number of these are hard-working people with families.
6
What part of "temporary" status don't these people understand? Why did they stay in the US past their allowed time frame? There are Salvadoran gangs here now because they came in along with the other Salvadorans...but now they don't want to go home where the gangs came from. From now on NO MORE TEMPORARY REFUGEES...because they don't know enough to go home when when they should have. They walked away from their lives in their home country, leaving someone else's country should be just as simple for them.
22
This level of ignorance has to be addressed. "Walking away" is how you describe a humanitarian crisis in an earthquake that killed a thousand people??
Look up Ronald Reagan's involvement in this country and the consequent death squads. Shameful.
We need adults to work out these problems not hateful parrots.
10
I agree this is a sad situation. Prior Congresses and Presidents gave the Salvadorans the false expectation that they would remain in the US in perpetuity. On the other hand the Salvadorans knew that at some future time their "Temporary" status might require their exit, they played the system and rolled the dice and they knew it. What troubles me is that we have invested in the expensive education of their children, provided medical care, perhaps food stamps and assistant grants. This article makes no mention of how many of the 200,000 sought citizenship and it's not encouraging that the one Salvadoran they chose to interview COULDN'T SPEAK ENGLISH. I am further disturbed that we have sent over $4.5 B in foreign aid to Salvador and it still remains one of the most dangerous places on the face of the earth. Add to that Salvador's export of gangs and the fact that the TPSers contribute to the over $60B/year remittances flowing south and I have serious questions. If the Salvadorans return to El Salvador they do so better educated with a yearning for the freedom we have provided them. Perhaps they can do in their homeland what our Billions haven't - Turn El Salvador into a functioning Democracy.
9
Nemesis,
They didn't "play the system."
They did what people do when they are in a place for a long time: they raised families, built businesses, found jobs.
Are you seriously suggesting that they should have sat on their hands for 16 years? Then you would be complaining that they were lazy.
There is no reasoning with a xenophobe or a racist. They hate just for the sake of hating.
1
All the liberal members of the Democratic majority when they held the house, and the senate and the presidency could have changed the LAW to clarify WHAT TEMPORARY status meant. OR they could have changed the law to grant the TPS PERMANENT status after 20 years....
INSTEAD they did nothing. Democrats use immigrants as a bargaining chip and have for a far longer time than the Don.
14
Does anyone else find it odd that people who profess to want government accountability would hold these Salvadorans accountable, but not the government that let them live, work, pay taxes and have families here for 17 years?
Their argument seems to be, "It's not what we've been doing for the last 17 years that matters, what matter is what we said 17 years ago."
It's like saying Trump has been corrupt for 17 years, but it was only temporary.
The pain and suffering that is going to be inflicted on these people is real. And, it's all so unnecessary. These are human beings we are talking about here, not things or some numbers in a ledger.
Sometimes I wonder if Republicans know the difference.
5
I wish these articles would tell people who to be activists. What should I be doing as an individual to help fight such shortsighted and wrong actions by my government?
4
Remember when we stood by these words and were looked at as a country that offered opportunity and hope to those in need. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" --The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc.
I think I saw the statue swimming out of the harbor, heading to El Salvador.
5
If they wanted to stay the obvious question is why didn't they apply for US citizenship?
7
It doesn't work that way. You can't just apply for citizenship because you want to. You first have to have a basis , usually stemming from family ties or employment, for establishing residency in the United States. For example, you are petitioned for by your sister who is a U.S. citizen or by your U.S. citizen spouse or by a company that wants to hire you. Some of these paths to residency can take years; for example siblings might wait a decade before their petition are even processed. (Spouses are not affected by these long waits.) Once you become a resident, you must live in the United States for a certain number of years before you can petition to become a citizen.
6
Plus the application for permanent residency is not as easy as that for a driver's license. I have friends who paid $30,000.- in lawyer fees to get a green card twenty years ago. Their employer, a private university, paid nothing.
3
17 years is enough time to apply for citizenship.
3
200,000 authorizations and almost 200,000 children born? I actually believe that this program - in one form or another- should be extended. But where is the responsibility of people who knew they were here temporarily and pump out child after child? What did they think was going to happen?
16
They were supposed to put childbearing on hold for 17 years? Really?
10
If only they'd had access to healthcare and birth control - oh, wait, that took until recently.
1
This administration’s policies make me so sad. How can we be a global moral compass when we’ve lost our compassion for real mother and fathers , sisters and brothers , grandparents , aunts , uncles and friends . Just laws are rooted in human kindness and compassion . I cannot accept that this really reflects the will of the American people . What dark , dark times .
11
What was the cost for charity care over the last 20 years?
9
Can you read ? 88% work. They do jobs others don’t want . What charity care ?
4
I'm not an immigration lawyer, but there might be some arguments that the government has waited too long (17 years) to take up the matter while families have set up roots, children have been born, etc. What government purpose would override these concerns? Certainly not some fly-by-night political agenda.
10
The people protected by this program have had nearly 17 years to do the work required to become a citizen. It is not hard. Why didn't they do that?
11
Because the road to citizenship is not easy for people on TPS. they are not regular green card holders; maybe if TPS married a US citizen they might get regular residency status. but the INS may look at those marriages are frauds and deny permanent status. The gov't should just give green card status to those who are non-regular felons, have homes, jobs, families and the rest a time frame to depart.
2
oh? Have you applied for citizenship or a green card? On what do you base this claim?
1
Their visa status prevented them doing so.
3
This will have devastating economic consequences for many SMALL businesses and social consequences in many communities. There is no good, logical reason for the upheaval this will cause -- in both countries. Also, it's just plain cruel. Who will take care of the tens of thousands of young children? I can't imagine they want to take American children back to El Salvador. By deporting WORKING parents, they likely could end up needing social services that they do not currently need.
5
The blame goes to congress and previous administrations who kicked the can down the road. Knowing full well that TEMPORARY by definition does not mean Permanent.
Further the temporary status should not be given to those who are here ILLEGALLY. A true refugee from a natural disaster or war yes. A person who sneaks across years earlier not so much.
6
This article deals with those here legally (through temporary humanitarian visas)...perhaps read the article?
4
I believe that temporary stays should be allowed when refugees flee a warring country, for example, but on a temporary basis. As for those who have overstayed due to extensions granted by our government and have complied with the rules, please let them stay. They made their home here just as you and I would under the same circumstances.
That said, what we need to do is find a way to accurately track visa's and green card holders that have been granted a certain period to stay here and then follow through with their return when the time is up. In other words, fix it on a go-forward basis.
Our own citizens in Puerto Rico have basically been left for dead unless a buck can be made by a contractor down there. As for cruel, just look at how Puerto Rico has been treated -- given a loan at God knows what percent.
4
Republicans said that they expect the temporary tax cuts for individuals which will expire in a few years to be made permanent by a future Congress. Applying the same logic, why not make the temporary protected status permanent?
7
Life is cheap in the deplorable universe, and disrupting people's lives is totally unimportant, especially if those lives belong to people who speak with a Spanish or Arabic accent, or any number of other non-alabaster speech patterns. On the other hand, it's OK to articulate in a manner that is disoriented or unschooled in the manner of Trump and Stephen Miller. 200,000 people can love it AND leave it. No biggie.
5
This, and similar decisions, have more far-reaching implications than the Republicans, with their limited understanding and lack of intellectual discourse, realize. As we are seen as more heartless, selfish and capricious around the world, Americans abroad will become more unwelcome and vulnerable. Our failure to live up to the ideals we have claimed to espouse will contribute to our downfall, and our decline seems to have come about more quickly than we had imagined. Somehow, zombies have become more preferable to what is really going to happen.
8
If no one can stop him, Trump's lies become the truth. And the truth is, no one can stop him.
5
Every day for the past year I rise from my bed hoping that Trump’s election was just a nightmare. And every day that nightmare just gets worse.
What a fundamentally mean-spirited, out-of-nowhere action. How does this make America “great again”?
8
In Arizona the "#Ialso'movement has been ignited with The Playwrights Sanctuary 's Arizona residency. Dr. Larry Myers, of St John s University and the theater foundation s Director penned "Immigration Braille" after his activist experience at the Senate with daca dreamers. Dealing woth human rights of unregistered workers and Native Americans this is in full swing mentoring younger and newer dramatists right s to express .Unheard voices & unseen faces abound.
3
Temporary means temporary. It doesn't mean you come, decide you like it here and stay.
15
Seriously. Who were your great grandparents, Scott? Oh, indigenous people? Not. We are all handed down from immigrants, long ago. HELLO, Ellis Island, etc. Where do you think we ALL came from? Who gives us the right to push out others?
2
So much evil behind such measure and the sadest part is that it has at his target people who come from the region where the U S has intervened the most with decapitating consequences. Now these people one more time are forced to suffer the more pain thank to the heartless measure of deportation. The great American Christians nation is showing its true colors.
7
This is nothing more than pure racism and an appalling lack of humaneness. So we will now force thousands to sell their homes, pull their US-born children from schools, cause a mass migration, and undoubtedly force these people to hand over a hefty share of their hard-earned money as an "exit fee". The Statue of Liberty is shedding tears tonight.
11
10 years is temporary reprieve, 17 years is an abuse.
16
Why should we deport good Christian His Panics who work hard and pay taxes, and also add to economic activity when they spend their income?
Why deport hundreds of thousands of victims of hatred when we can deport Trump to exile instead for destroying the fabric and security of America?
3
Not a Christ like move, but very Christian in the Trump/TV evangelist sense of the word.
9
What does a religious view have to do with US Government policy? This is not a relgious state.
3
A shameful reflection on our country.
6
For those white, American-born citizens, of which I am one, who feel that these people should be sent back to Salvador, a place many of them can't even remember or have never seen, I can only respond--It is easy enough to take that position when your own status, by an accident of birth, is secure.
What on earth is wrong with you people? Has the word "compassion" simply dropped from your vocabularies? And, in fact, by all accounts you don't even need to be compassionate, only practical, since the contribution TO THE ECONOMY of the Salvadorans in question is considerable. I have almost given up commenting on this administration's dreadfulness, but this is one for the books. Good grief.
27
Immigration is not a moral virtue. People immigrating from poorer countries to richer countries do not solve issues either of their country of birth nor of the host countries that they become citizens of. Human beings and countries do not have any choice other than to create trustworthy social institutions. Other people cannot do it for you.
Living in South India just a few miles across the sea from Srilanka, which had one of the most bloody ethnic conflicts of recent times, i can vouch to be a witness on the negative effects of immigration. The conflict started in actions that were economically discriminatory on the minority Tamils by the majority Sinhalas. As the conflict became increasingly bloody, the well off Tamils(those with economic and social capital) started to immigrate to Europe as refugees in toto. With nothing to lose and in metro-poles far from conflict they became financial backers to one of the most dreaded militant outfits (named LTTE). The final sufferers among the Tamils were the socially and economically weakest in them. The Europeans thought of themselves as compassionate when they started these immigrant refugee programs. But the final effect was to remove the people whose very presence (because of their cultural capital) was most needed for the conflict not to reach the violence that it attained.
In the case of Salvadoreans you have a point about it being cruel, because they lived in America for more than 17 years.
3
These people may do all the things described in the comments except they cannot vote and the Republicans know the cold fact that the vote matters which is how they get elected. In many of the states especially in Texas, 1/3 Hispanic dislike competing for the same jobs as illegals and they vote Republican every year.
Believe it or not, the United States's population may be too small for its own good! The more people here living an American lifestyle, the more customers for existing businesses, the more entrepreneurs to create more jobs, etc. Sending people away who will do anything positive to prove themselves worthy of the privilege of being Americans is dumb. Isn't it interesting that while we have more foreign-born Americans and immigrants than we had in a long time that crime is a fraction of what it was when less of them were here.
6
I'd like to see a real, live speech from Mr Trump.
I want him to address those 200,000 Salvadorans, and them why this is the best idea since sliced bread.
He is systemically turning America "white".
Somebody has got to stop him from living HIS dream.
8
This is my take on what Trump is doing regarding his deportations.
Nearly 800,000 will be deported after DACA failed. An additional 200,000 will be deported from the TPS.
In both cases the targets are Latino's.
In neither case are African immigrants being targeted for deportation. With nearly 1,000,000 Latino's being to made to leave the U.S. that is 1,000,000 less votes for Democrats in any election. So the first agenda of deporting DACA and TPS based Latino's is too reduce the number of votes for Democrats.
African immigrant population in U.S. steadily climbs
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/14/african-immigrant-popula...
So you are acknowledging that many immigrants here illegally are voting in our elections.
3
Perhaps we should look at retroactively revoking immigration granted historically to other immigrants. And their progeny. EG Germany. I'm looking at you, Frederick Drumpf.
6
What is the point in this??? It's just cruelty, plain and simple.
3
This level of arrogance and posturing is not only unreal, it's stupid.
First of all, a lot of these people didn't show up here because of "an earthquake." They came here because El Salvador is a dangerous place - no thanks to the thirty plus years of meddling in their affairs and toppling democratically elected leaders and governments. Only to be replaced by U.S. appointed butchers.
For decades now, America stomps around South America like it owns the place, props up one brutal dictatorship after the next, (SEE EL SALVADOR), resulting in the slaughter of millions of innocent people, and then does this.
The bill will come due for this soon.
6
The only non-Americans I see, are those who were born here, but have done absolutely nothing--and never will do anything, for anyone but themselves. You people (natural born natives) who are against these fellow human-beings are abhorrent and YOU make me embarrassed to be an American. Disgusted.
10
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
3
If only the so called Pilgrims went to Middle East (where Jesus Christ was born and spent human life on earth) instead of coming to the New World, this land would have been a peaceful land.
Did the so called Pilgrims have directional problem discerning the East from the West? Or they were not pilgrims after all!
3
Native Americans waged war on each other, and enslaved the prisoners they took. I wasn't sure if this comment was satire or not.
4