President Trump has made a decision that could send around 200,000 Salvadorans living in the U.S back to El Salvador by 2019. The Salvadoran immigrants were granted temporary protected status permits back in 2001 after El Salvador was hit with deadly earthquakes. Those permits have been renewed on an 18-month basis since then.

Why does this matter?

This is another push by the administration to push out foreigners living in the U.S. and slowing down the flow of legal and illegal immigration. Since Trump became president, arrests by immigration have increased by 40% and fewer refugees are being accepted by the United States since the 1980s.

The Department of Homeland Security says their decision to revoke residency status to Salvadoran immigrants makes sense since conditions in El Salvador have improved since 2001. DHS gave immigrants a deadline of September 9th, 2019 to arrange their departure or seek permanent residency in the U.S.

Advocates have asked the department to give immigrants more time to seek permanent residency due to El Salvador’s increased violence and high homicide rate. There is also the question of money, immigrants will have to seek the help of an attorney to help them file for legal residency. Lawyer fees could be thousands of dollars depending on each case. Permit holders have been living in the U.S. for over a decade, they have U.S. born children, stable jobs, and possibly businesses.

Families will now have to decide whether they want to take their American-born children back to El Salvador, or stay in the U.S. and face arrest or deportation. Without the work permit, people will lose their jobs, leaving them without health insurance and other benefits.

How will this affect businesses and companies?

Many Salvadoran immigrants are also homeowners and make up the majority workforces in some cities like Houston, Texas. They work in the service industry, at places like Reagan National Airport, the World Bank, and many other major landmarks. Officials are calling the decision “shameful”, they also say more than 160,000 thousand workers are employed in the service industry nationwide and that losing them would be detrimental.

According to the Center for Migration Studies, permit recipients have more than 190,000 children who are U.S. citizens and nearly 90% of them are actively working. Some construction companies who are relying on these workers to repair the damage from Hurricane Harvey in Texas could lose up to 30 workers.

Is El Salvador ready to take back its citizens?

One of the main reasons why this decision was passed by the Department of Homeland Security was due to the developments and the reconstruction in El Salvador after the earthquakes. The country has come along way in terms of rebuilding schools, hospitals and roads, however, in recent years the country has been considered the most dangerous places on earth. In 2016, its economy experienced the slowest growth than any other country in Central America.

The Salvadoran government, including its president Salvador Sanchez Ceren, has pleaded with the Trump administration to allow its citizens to remain in the U.S. citing a drought and other factors. Moving hundreds of thousands of people back to El Salvador could also have a serious effect on the country's economy. Families living in the country also depend on family members living in the U.S. to send them money. More than $4 Billion per year is sent back to El Salvador, ranking as its single greatest source of income.

Advocates and other groups are now working to use the 18-month grace period to petition the government to come up with a permanent solution.