A Pathway to Permanent Residency in the United States

In January, 2018 the US government announced that it will not renew Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Salvadorans. Salvadorans with TPS have 18 months, or until September
2019, to either leave the country or try to make other arrangements. This report will explore the consequences of this decision and offer several proposals for avoiding or mitigating the potential harm to Salvadorans currently protected by TPS.

Providing legal permanent residency for Salvadorans with Temporary Protected Status comes as a logical, humane and politically important and defensible step for the United States and the US Congress.

Salvadorans with TPS have set down roots and are by now fully integrated members of American society. They constitute a vibrant economic force and support US foreign policy interests. As a population, they mirror US native born or naturalized citizens in terms of many of their characteristics. Granting them permanent residency would strengthen the social and economic fiber of the United States, while also advancing US interests of stability, prosperity and democracy abroad.