One More Break for the Undocumented

Published in Diario Co Latino
(El Salvador) on 7 January 2015
by (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Sean P. Hunter. Edited by Bora Mici.
President Salvador Sanchez Ceren’s government expressed its “congratulations” through its Ministry of Foreign Relations, after an announcement made January 6 by President Barack Obama’s administration about a new extension of Temporary Protection Status, known as TPS.

The TPS extension, the 10th one since its creation at the start of 2001 after the devastating earthquakes in January and February, is good news for our compatriots who have sought shelter in that immigration benefit, since, even when they could not leave the country, they were allowed to work without major setbacks.

Although the main people favored by TPS are our family members in the United States, who arrived undocumented seeking the “American dream,” the Salvadoran government benefits too.

On the one hand, it means there is confidence in President Sanchez Ceren’s government, which indicates that the United States isn’t using immigrants to pressure the government, and also that, although the country must work toward having its “far away brothers return,” this will not turn into a “time bomb for the government.”

Although we shouldn’t have so many immigrants outside of our borders, what is certain is that in the United States alone there are close to 3 million Salvadoran men and women, and it is those millions of compatriots who sustain our economy, the tenth, up to now, in consumption.

In the face of the lack of foreign investment at year’s end, if it is serious, one cannot get around the fact that 2.2 percent of the economy’s growth in 2014 had to do with the almost $4 billion in shipments sent to families — we do not have the exact data from the BCR [El Salvador's central bank] yet, but we calculate that it will reach that figure.

Certainly, the growth has to do with other internal factors, such as small businesses and cooperatives producing school supplies, shoes and uniforms; and also, of course, with the millions invested by large corporations. Due to all of the above-mentioned, each and every Salvadoran woman should congratulate herself for the TPS extension.

The main lesson is certainly to keep working toward improving the nation, in all aspects, in order to prevent more Salvadorans feeling obligated to abandon their native land in search of better opportunities. This year, under President Salvador Sanchez Cerén’s leadership, plans to improve the country will be specified, which will mean modifying the economic model of consumption that began to crumble in 2009, with the arrival of the first president under the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front’s flag. The new TPS will be valid for 18 months from March 10, 2015, and will expire on Sept. 9, 2016.


El Gobierno del Presidente Salvador Sánchez Cerén, a través del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, expresó sus “congratulaciones”, tras el anuncio hecho ayer mismo, de parte de la administración del presidente de los Estados Unidos de América, Barack Obama, sobre una nueva extensión del Estatus de Protección Temporal (conocido como TPS por sus siglas en inglés).

La extensión del TPS, la décima desde que se creó a partir de 2001, tras los terremotos devastadores de enero y febrero, es una buena noticia para los compatriotas que se ampararon a dicho beneficio migratorio, pues, aún y cuando no pueden salir del país, les permite trabajar sin mayores tropiezos.

Si bien los principales favorecidos del TPS son nuestros familiares en los Estados Unidos, que llegaron indocumentados buscando el “sueño americano”, también lo es el Gobierno de El Salvador.

Por un lado, porque significa que hay confianza en el Gobierno del Presidente Sánchez Cerén, lo que indica que Estados Unidos no utiliza a los migrantes para presionar al Gobierno, y, por el otro, porque, si bien el país debe trabajar para que los “hermanos lejanos regresen”, no se convierte en una “bomba de tiempo para el Gobierno”.

Si bien no debería tener tantos migrantes fuera de nuestras fronteras, lo cierto es que solo en Estados Unidos hay cerca de tres millones de salvadoreños y salvadoreñas, y son esos millones de compatriotas, los que sostienen la economía, la décima hasta ahora, de consumo.

Y ante la falta de inversión extranjera en el año que termina, si se es serio, no se debe soslayar que en el crecimiento del 2.2% de la economía en 2014 tuvieron que ver los casi cuatro mil millones de dólares en remesas familiares (el dato exacto del BCR no lo tenemos aún, pero calculamos que alcanzará esa cifra).

Por su puesto que el crecimiento tiene que ver con otros factores internos como: la producción, de parte de pequeñas empresas y cooperativas de los útiles escolares, zapatos y uniformes. Por supuesto, que también a las inversiones millonarias de grandes empresarios.

Por todo lo anterior, todos y todas las salvadoreñas deberían congratularse con la extensión del TPS.

Por supuesto que la principal lección es seguir trabajando en mejorar el país, en todos sus aspectos, para evitar que más salvadoreños se vean obligados a abandonar su terruño, en busca de mejores oportunidades.

Este año, bajo el liderazgo del presidente Salvador Sánchez Cerén, se irán concretando acciones para mejorar el país, lo que significa modificar el modelo económico de consumo que comenzó a desmontarse desde 2009, con la llegada del primer presidente bajo la bandera del FMLN.

El nuevo TPS tendrá una vigencia de 18 meses, desde el 10 de marzo de 2015, y vencerá el 9 de septiembre de 2016.
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