El Paso, Texas, Jan 3, 2018 / 12:00 pm
The Bishop of El Paso is urging the Trump administration to extend a temporary residency program for Salvadoran migrants for the sake of keeping families together, as a deadline looms for the Department of Homeland Security to make a decision.
Temporary Protected Status, a temporary immigration permit program, is set to expire for El Salvador March 9, unless the Department of Homeland Security decides, by Jan. 8, to extend it.
"Will these families face separation and breakdown, so that their U.S.-citizen child can access the benefits of an American education? Or will families stay together and leave to their parents' home countries, facing a decided lack of opportunity and, worse, extreme violence and possible exploitation?" Bishop Mark Seitz questioned in an opinion piece published Jan. 1 in The Hill.
"The end of TPS for El Salvador would force such a heartbreaking decision upon thousands of families," the bishop stated.