Jacqueline Landaverde, age 17, hopes to study political science and law in college. Kevin Palma, also 17, wants to become a doctor. The two young people are in their final year of high school. They were born in the United States, so they are U.S. citizens. But their parents are not. They moved here from El Salvador under the Temporary Protected Status Program, or TPS. They could live and work legally in the United States for a short period of time while their homeland was dealing with natural disasters or political problems. The TPS Program did not offer immigrants a way to become U.S. citizens or live permanently in the country. In September 2017, the Department of Homeland Security said it would end the program for six of 10 protected countries. More than 400,000 immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua and Sudan would lose their legal guarantees. In October 2018, a judge stopped the Trump administration from ending the TPS status for immigrants from Haiti, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Sudan. The Department of Homeland Security announced on March 1 that the TPS will continue for these four countries until January 2, 2020.
