Protests break out after Trump gives 200,000 Salvadorans 18-month ultimatum to leave US

The decision by President Donald Trump of the United States of America to issue an 18-month ultimatum to over 200,000 Salvadorans living in the US has sparked protests among nationals of the earthquake devastated country.

Members of the Salvadoran community in the US took to the streets in protest of the decision expressing their “devastation” after the US government said it would stop providing legal status and the ability to work to some 200,000 immigrants from El Salvador.

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The government of the US initially gave nationals of the country special protection status after two earthquakes killed nearly 8,000 people in 2001 but has now ordered that nationals of the country must get Temporary Protected Status (TPS) until September 9, 2019, to leave or find a legal way to stay in the country.

According to a statement by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); “Based on careful consideration of available information, including recommendations received as part of an inter-agency consultation process, the Secretary determined that the original conditions caused by the 2001 earthquakes no longer exist.”

Reacting to the decision, Rosa Cecilia Martinez, originally from El Congo in El Salvador, said she was at a loss after she got wind of the news.

“I don’t know how to express how devastating this is,” Martinez, a single mother of two, told Al Jazeera.

“It’s devastating to know we only have 18 months left in the country.”

 

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