Yestersday was supposedly when people from El Salvador, “temporarily” in the U.S. for 25.5 years, would begin to head home to the country that, for the past few years, has (1) had a lower murder rate than the U.S., and (2) is too dangerous for humans to occupy, especially Salvadorans such as Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
Have any Salvadorans gone home? Or is “temporary” some period of time longer than 25.5 years? Gemini says that people with “temporary” status are actually permanent from any practical perspective:
The termination of TPS [for Hondurans, nearly all of whom are still here] did not grant Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) the right to summarily deport people. To be removed from the country, individuals who do not leave voluntarily must be issued a Notice to Appear (NTA) and go through the formal immigration court system.
With immigration courts already facing massive multi-million case backlogs, processing thousands of long-term residents with clean criminal histories and significant family equities in the U.S. takes years, effectively leaving them in a prolonged state of legal limbo within the United States.
So… a Salvadoran might be here on a “temporary” basis and at the same time, under the laws that our elected politicians were wise enough to create, it isn’t possible to deport him or her “summarily”.
Here’s a video from a few months back about what youngsters in El Salvador are up to:
Compare to what happens in Los Angeles:
Finally, let’s hope that DHS will use the new cover sheet for any further TPS reports.