1 00:00:02,100 --> 00:00:04,400 JUDY WOODRUFF: President Trump has made another consequential decision regarding immigrants 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:06,800 in this country. 3 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:10,666 The administration announced that it is ending a program that gave temporary status to hundreds 4 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:13,833 of thousands of people from El Salvador. 5 00:00:13,833 --> 00:00:18,533 As Lisa Desjardins explains, their protected status will end by September 2019. 6 00:00:20,533 --> 00:00:23,900 LISA DESJARDINS: The U.S. gave Salvadorans this status to help after devastating earthquakes 7 00:00:24,500 --> 00:00:26,466 hit in 2001. 8 00:00:26,466 --> 00:00:29,400 They are the latest group to face possible deportation in the future. 9 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:33,733 The Trump administration has so far announced it would also end this temporary status for 10 00:00:33,733 --> 00:00:36,400 migrants from Honduras, Nicaragua and Haiti. 11 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:40,700 In total, that would affect nearly 400,000 people in the U.S. 12 00:00:40,700 --> 00:00:45,266 The largest group is over 250,000 from El Salvador. 13 00:00:45,266 --> 00:00:48,700 For more, I'm joined by Dara Lind, who covers immigration for Vox. 14 00:00:48,700 --> 00:00:49,966 Thanks for joining us. 15 00:00:49,966 --> 00:00:52,033 DARA LIND, Vox: Thanks for having me, Lisa. 16 00:00:52,033 --> 00:00:53,266 LISA DESJARDINS: Let's just start with what the Trump administration says they're doing. 17 00:00:53,266 --> 00:00:55,300 Why are they doing this now? 18 00:00:55,300 --> 00:00:59,033 DARA LIND: So, the administration has taken the attitude that, as long as the initial 19 00:00:59,033 --> 00:01:03,700 disaster for which they gave TPS to somebody - - so, in this case, the earthquake in El 20 00:01:03,700 --> 00:01:07,700 Salvador in 2001 -- as long as the country has recovered sufficiently from that, they 21 00:01:07,700 --> 00:01:11,133 don't see any reason to continue granting protections for people to be able to stay 22 00:01:11,133 --> 00:01:13,666 and work in the U.S. 23 00:01:13,666 --> 00:01:17,333 So, they have analyzed the economy of El Salvador, have decided that it has recovered from the 24 00:01:19,333 --> 00:01:23,366 2001 earthquake, and not paid attention to the considerations that previous administrations 25 00:01:25,300 --> 00:01:29,200 had of how long people have been in the U.S., the fact that at this point they have put 26 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:34,200 down roots, that many of them now have U.S. citizen children, that had previously prevented 27 00:01:35,866 --> 00:01:38,500 other presidents from stripping legal status from people. 28 00:01:38,500 --> 00:01:43,100 LISA DESJARDINS: So, you said TPS, temporary protected status. 29 00:01:43,100 --> 00:01:46,166 It's interesting they are removing this status now for El Salvadorans. 30 00:01:46,166 --> 00:01:50,433 And it's a country that the State Department under President Trump last year warned Americans 31 00:01:50,433 --> 00:01:55,133 not to travel to, citing one of the highest homicide rates in the world. 32 00:01:55,133 --> 00:01:58,633 How does the administration square those two things, telling Americans, don't go there, 33 00:01:58,633 --> 00:02:01,433 but saying this one group of people need to return there? 34 00:02:01,433 --> 00:02:03,800 DARA LIND: It's interesting that they didn't, really. 35 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:08,733 On today's press call, senior administration officials were asked about in particular MS-13, 36 00:02:08,733 --> 00:02:12,866 which has been a major rhetorical target of this administration and which really has its 37 00:02:12,866 --> 00:02:15,000 home base in El Salvador. 38 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:19,566 And they made it clear that they didn't see the danger as being sufficient to prevent 39 00:02:19,566 --> 00:02:21,700 people from going back. 40 00:02:21,700 --> 00:02:24,900 Of course, the irony is that they're also bragging about deporting MS-13 gang members 41 00:02:24,900 --> 00:02:26,966 back to El Salvador. 42 00:02:26,966 --> 00:02:31,633 And on today's press call, they said that the repatriation of deportees back to El Salvador 43 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:34,933 is evidence that the country is doing well. 44 00:02:34,933 --> 00:02:37,733 So, they're kind of engaging in this double standard, but they're not trying to square 45 00:02:37,733 --> 00:02:39,766 that circle. 46 00:02:39,766 --> 00:02:41,800 LISA DESJARDINS: It's look like they're looking at the letter of the law. 47 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:43,766 They're saying this is a temporary status, and we're saying the time is up now. 48 00:02:43,766 --> 00:02:47,200 But you implied how is that different from what other presidents have done? 49 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:50,166 Other presidents have not seen it as temporary, even though it's called temporary? 50 00:02:50,166 --> 00:02:54,800 DARA LIND: So, the reason the temporary protected status has been such a problem for previous 51 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:59,800 administrations is there isn't a way to get a green card or get permanent residency in 52 00:03:01,033 --> 00:03:03,333 the U.S. from having temporary status. 53 00:03:03,333 --> 00:03:08,333 So the choice has been, do you strip legal status from people who have been working in 54 00:03:10,300 --> 00:03:12,866 the U.S. for years, or do you continue to punt the ball down the road, arguing that 55 00:03:12,866 --> 00:03:16,600 recovery is taking a while or other things have changed? 56 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:19,100 Previous administrations have taken the second option. 57 00:03:19,100 --> 00:03:22,933 The Trump administration is taking the first option, as you said, taking this very letter-of-the-law 58 00:03:22,933 --> 00:03:27,933 approach, without making any considerations for, say, the almost 200,000 U.S.-born children, 59 00:03:29,266 --> 00:03:32,000 for the kind of communities that have grown up. 60 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:36,300 This is 16 percent of all El Salvadorans in the U.S. that they are now saying, well, the 61 00:03:36,300 --> 00:03:39,800 initial reason for us giving you status has ended, so we're taking that away. 62 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:41,600 LISA DESJARDINS: Let's talk about what happens to them now. 63 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:43,133 What exactly are their options? 64 00:03:43,133 --> 00:03:45,633 I don't know their advocates say they have children here. 65 00:03:45,633 --> 00:03:47,366 Many of them have mortgages here. 66 00:03:47,366 --> 00:03:49,500 What are their options at this point? 67 00:03:49,500 --> 00:03:53,533 DARA LIND: So, the administration gave 18 months more that they can apply for one last 68 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:57,033 work permit to figure out what their options are. 69 00:03:57,033 --> 00:04:01,066 At that point, if they have spouses who are legal residents or U.S. citizens or if they 70 00:04:03,066 --> 00:04:06,500 children who are above the age of 21, they have people who will be able to petition for 71 00:04:06,500 --> 00:04:08,566 them to get green cards. 72 00:04:08,566 --> 00:04:12,700 Other than that, it's going to be a question of whether they can find some other way to 73 00:04:13,833 --> 00:04:15,033 potentially get status into the U.S. 74 00:04:15,033 --> 00:04:16,533 (CROSSTALK) 75 00:04:16,533 --> 00:04:18,566 LISA DESJARDINS: But that's the minority, probably, right? 76 00:04:18,566 --> 00:04:22,066 DARA LIND: It's very difficult for somebody to go from being unauthorized -- or to go 77 00:04:23,633 --> 00:04:27,566 from not having an obvious pathway to being able to stay in the U.S. 78 00:04:27,566 --> 00:04:31,233 And so the choice facing most of them is really whether they go into the shadows and become 79 00:04:31,233 --> 00:04:35,833 unauthorized immigrants, or whether they go back to El Salvador. 80 00:04:35,833 --> 00:04:38,966 It's not like they are forced to go back. 81 00:04:38,966 --> 00:04:43,966 The Trump administration probably is not going to deport all 200,000 people -- or 250,000 82 00:04:45,366 --> 00:04:48,700 people, rather, the day after their work permits expire. 83 00:04:48,700 --> 00:04:53,566 But the choice of going and becoming an unauthorized immigrant certainly doesn't come without its 84 00:04:53,566 --> 00:04:54,833 risks. 85 00:04:54,833 --> 00:04:56,300 LISA DESJARDINS: And one last question, quickly. 86 00:04:56,300 --> 00:04:57,733 How are the countries involved reacting to this? 87 00:04:57,733 --> 00:05:00,133 Is this changing how they see the U.S., or no? 88 00:05:00,133 --> 00:05:03,533 DARA LIND: The relationship between the Trump administration and a lot of Latin American 89 00:05:03,533 --> 00:05:08,533 countries has been a little bit fraught, not least because of the way that the administration 90 00:05:10,466 --> 00:05:13,666 describes the MS-13 gang problem and appears to be implicating the Salvadoran government 91 00:05:13,666 --> 00:05:15,733 in not doing enough to help with it. 92 00:05:15,733 --> 00:05:20,733 But the administration hasn't really had its immigration policy guided by that, right? 93 00:05:22,333 --> 00:05:25,933 It's considered the America-first ideology to be the center of it. 94 00:05:25,933 --> 00:05:29,233 And it's kind of managed its relationships with other countries around that. 95 00:05:29,233 --> 00:05:31,466 LISA DESJARDINS: Dara Lind of Vox, thank you for joining us. 96 00:05:31,466 --> 00:05:31,933 DARA LIND: Thank you.