TPS Delegation Report Launched in Anticipation of Hearing in Federal Court

CIVIL RIGHTS AND IMMIGRANTS’ RIGHTS GROUPS ARGUE TPS CASE AND RELEASE LANDMARK REPORT ON HONDURAS AND EL SALVADOR

In anticipation of a federal court hearing on TPS, civil rights and immigrants’ rights groups are releasing a groundbreaking report describing the harsh in-country conditions that families and children would confront if they are forcibly deported to Honduras or El Salvador.

This report, titled “Tantamount To A Death Sentence: Deported TPS Recipients Will Experience Extreme Violence and Poverty in Honduras and El Salvador,” is the product of a week-long fact-finding mission observing and documenting conditions in TPS countries in Central America.

COMMENTS FROM TPS DELEGATION IN RESPONSE TO NEW REPORT:

“Advocates for immigrants’ rights who have not traveled to the region understand only a small fraction of the complex dynamics currently at play. The region has an alarming number of internally displaced persons due to violence. You cannot fully grasp the human cost of forced migration until you see and experience the conditions that people are fleeing,” said Iván Espinoza-Madrigal, the Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee and a leader of the TPS delegation to Honduras and El Salvador.

“No one should be deported to torture or rape,” said Patricia Montes, the Executive Director of Centro Presente and a leader of the TPS delegation to Honduras and El Salvador. “This important document corroborates what immigrants have long reported to be their day-to-day realities in their home countries: extreme violence, particularly against women. Groups advocating for women’s rights should pay close attention to the harrowing facts and figures included in this report.”

“The level of unchecked violence, deep-seated impunity, and cyclical poverty in the region makes it clear that anyone being forcibly sent back to these countries would face imminent harm,” said Oscar Chacon, the Executive Director of Alianza Americas and a leader of the TPS delegation to Honduras and El Salvador.

“El Salvador and Honduras cannot safely provide for people already there, let alone receive a flood of thousands of returning immigrants. This makes it all the more critical that we work toward preserving and expanding humanitarian protections rather than dismantling life-saving programs like TPS,” said Oren Nimni, an attorney with the Lawyers’ Committee defending TPS. “We stand ready to fight in court to protect families with TPS and their U.S. Citizen children,” added Attorney Nimni.

The groundbreaking report is available here: 

Updated-TPS-Delegation-Report-July-2018