STATEMENT: CAP Urges Biden Administration To Designate Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras for TPS

Washington, D.C. — Since taking office, the Biden administration has used its authority to designate several eligible countries for Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Now, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has the opportunity to designate El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua for TPS.

In support of these TPS designations, Joel Martinez, senior policy analyst for National Security and International Policy at the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement: 

El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua are currently experiencing a dangerous combination of challenges, including the continuing effects of back-to-back hurricanes Eta and Iota in 2020, multiple years of severe drought, food insecurity, political repression, ongoing violence fueled by U.S. guns, poverty, and corruption. Both climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic have exacerbated these problems, worsening human security.

Because of these extraordinary circumstances, nationals from these countries cannot now be returned to the region safely. For both humanitarian and economic reasons, TPS designations for El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua would contribute to meaningfully stabilizing the region.

Silva Mathema, director for Immigration Policy at CAP, added:

It is imperative that the Biden administration use its statutory authority to designate these four Central American countries for TPS. New designations are fully justified based on current country conditions. TPS designations would promote a more holistic, smart, humane, and effective approach to managing migration. Research shows that by gaining access to the labor market and earning higher wages, TPS holders frequently send larger amounts of money home in the form of remittances, promoting local economic development and ameliorating some of the root causes of irregular migration. The Biden administration should take this opportunity to make a transformative difference by issuing these TPS designations.

Related resources:

• “Temporary Protected Status Is Critical To Tackling the Root Causes of Migration in the Americas” by Silva Mathema and Joel Martinez

• “There Is No Evidence That TPS Designations Increase Irregular Migration to the United States” by Tom K. Wong, Tom Jawetz, and Silva Mathema

• “TPS Can Promote Stability and Recovery for Central American Countries Hit by Recent Hurricanes” by Silva Mathema and Tom Jawetz

• “What Do We Know About Immigrants With Temporary Protected Status?” by Nicole Prchal Svajlenka

• “How Ending TPS Will Hurt U.S.-Citizen Children” by Leila Schochet and Nicole Prchal Svajlenka

For more resources, please visit “Resources on Temporary Protected Status”

For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact Madia Coleman at [email protected].