During the George W. Bush administration, El Salvador immigrants in Florida and beyond were granted temporary protective status (TPS). The protection was given to help hundreds of thousands of people who had become displaced due to catastrophic circumstances in their country of origin. Some time before adjustment of status options were offered to these people, a 4-year-old girl forded the Rio Grande river on her mother’s shoulders, as they escaped violence and danger in El Salvador.
The little girl grew up in the United States. When she learned about the TPS order, she applied and was granted legal status to live and work in the U.S. She went to nursing school and graduated cum laude and is currently preparing for her doctorate degree.
As an immigrant living in the United States under a temporary legal status, the young woman must check in with the Department of Homeland Security every 18 months. The current administration is trying to remove the protective status granted to people from El Salvador was to be removed, now that the events that prompted the initial granting no longer exist. However, a federal judge has temporarily blocked the DHS plan.
The nurse had been helping migrant workers in Florida and throughout the country learn to avoid health damage from spending long hours in the sun. She worries that changes in U.S. immigration law may put her at risk for immediate deportation and she will not be able to continue her research. This woman is definitely not the only immigrant currently facing adjustment of status problems; any person in need of guidance for such issues may request a consultation with an experienced immigration law attorney.
