20,000 deported and 130,000 need to register for TPS

A total of 19,701 Salvadorans have been deported from the US during 2008 according to a report today in La Prensa Grafica. Of that total, 6212 were deported for having commited crimes including murder and robbery in the US, while the other 13,500 were deported for entering the US illegally. The total deportations are down slightly from 2007, but the number of persons with a criminal record is up.

Many Salvadorans arrive back in El Salvador courtesy of a one way flight operated by US ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). You can watch an ABC News video about the deportation airline run by the US government at this link.

Salvadoran authorities are concerned about the number of Salvadorans who have yet to re-enroll for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and might face deportation if they miss the deadline. Some 229,000 Salvadorans are eligible to stay in the US under the program, but as of this week only 90,000 migrants had re-enrolled before the end of the year deadline. One reason could be the $340 per person cost charged by the US government as a processing fee for the re-enrollment. But in 2006 as well, as many as half of the people re-enrolling waited until the very last moment.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Tim,
You are doing such a great job of keeping people informed about El Salvador. Do I sense your own personal growth, as well?
El-Visitador said…
«One reason could be the $340 per person cost charged by the US government »

And it must not be forgotten that it was Bill Clinton who mandated that most federal government services fully charge a fee to users. He needed to free up cash for his "social" projects.

This is why anything from US visas to National Park admission fees to TPS cards are now so expensive: services that previous generations thought were part of the deal people makes with government in exchange for general taxes are now excluded.

Whether Democrat Bill Clinton's new policy it is fair or not, I shall not comment today.

Just don't forget that it was him who required all to pay to play.

If he ensnared poor Salvadorean emigrés, well, what can I say, thank his "social" projects.
Anonymous said…
That fee is nothing to anyone working in the US even in bad economic times.

Most immigrants make at least 10.00 /hr , so in 6 months a person makes around 10 thousand.

They are working in the US, not El Sal.
Tim, I'm sure you mean to refer to the year 2008, not 2009, in your figures for the number of Salvadorans deported back to El Salvador.

Keep up the awesome work of keeping us informed. We appreciate your efforts.
En solidaridad, Carl J. Malischke
cjsquirrel@mac.com