Texas, United States
Approximately 400,000 beneficiaries of temporary protected status (TPS), mostly Central Americans, could gain US citizenship thanks to a proposal by President Joe Biden, the Pew Center said Monday.
The TPS program, which now covers immigrants from 10 countries, protects them from deportation and grants them work permits. The United States government designates countries where natural disasters or violence justify the protection afforded to those fleeing those nations.
The government of former President Donald Trump has tried to overturn these appointments for almost all beneficiaries, but those efforts have been blocked in court proceedings.
According to Pew figures, the TPS for El Salvador, created in early 2001, currently covers 247,412 people, and the Honduras, established in 1998, covers 79,290 people.
TPS for Haiti, established in January 2011, it protects 55,218 people, and the one in Nicaragua, created in 1998, protects 4,409 people.
Other countries on the current list a TPS They are Yemen, Somalia, Nepal, Sudan, South Sudan and Syria.
Names in El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua and Sudan expire on October 4; those in Somalia and Yemen in September; South Sudan expires in May 2022, and Syria in September 2022.
Apply for citizenship
After its inauguration on January 20, Biden called on Congress to enact legislation under which “Tepesianos” (beneficiaries of TPS) who meet certain conditions could immediately apply for permanent residence (green card) and three years later could apply for citizenship.
Another program that protects certain foreigners from deportation is applied at the discretion of the Executive Branch and now protects some immigrants from Liberia and Venezuela. The program for Liberia expires in June 2022 and that of Venezuela in July next year.