With the deadline approaching for the end or renewal of the special immigration designation called Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for immigrants from El Salvador and Honduras in the US, experts fear that Canada could face an influx should the Trump administration decide on the former.
In May, the Department of Homeland Security told 50,000 Haitians that their TPS would end in January and that they should begin preparing to go back to their homeland. This comes at the same time as thousands of Haitian immigrants begin to cross over into Canada, and now 2500 Nicaraguans, 60,000 Hondurans, and as many as 195,000 Salvadorans are waiting to hear the fate of their status.
The existing designations for Nicaraguans and Hondurans will run out in January, and for Salvadorans in March. Daniella Burgi-Palomino is a senior associate for the Latin American Working Group, the Washington-based organization lobbying for an extension of the TPS status from US lawmakers. She says that the group is getting ready for the worst-case scenario, given the lack of good signals from the Trump administration on their intentions. She adds that the precedent with Haiti makes it more likely that immigrants for those three nations will also lose their Temporary Protected Status.
Campaigns across the US have been encouraging state and local lawmakers to pressure the Trump administration into extending protections. Supporters say this is necessary as the countries still offer poor conditions for returning expats.