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Make the Road New Jersey Joins Union County Freeholder Chairman to Condemn End of Protected Status for Nearly 200,000 Salvadorans

Contact: Sara Cullinane sara.cullinane@maketheroadnj.org 908-768-4991

(Elizabeth, NJ) Today the Trump administration announced the end of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Salvadorans. Effective Sept. 9, 2019, nearly 200,000 people who have been living and working legally in the U.S. for almost two decades, who have American families, homes and businesses, will be subject to deportation. 10,000 Salvadoran TPS holders currently reside in New Jersey.

Make the Road New Jersey, the grassroots immigrant rights organization based in Elizabeth, NJ strongly condemns this decision.

“Once again the Trump administration has made a cruel and inhumane decision by ending TPS for Salvadorans living in the United States. Families who have been living here for decades, who have families, jobs and form an integral part of the fabric of our communities will now face deportation to one of the most violent countries in the world,” said Make the Road New Jersey leader Douglas Martinez, who immigrated from El Salvador more than a decade ago. “Racism and xenophobia are the only explanation for this horrific decision that will gut our communities and put our families’ lives at risk.”

Union County Freeholder Chairman Sergio Granados issued the following statement: “Our nation has long stood as a beacon of liberty against oppression, but the TPS decision is yet another example of President Trump’s utter disregard for the devastating impact of his immigration policies on hardworking families and communities here in Union County and across the United States. As a person of Salvadoran heritage, I find this latest humanitarian outrage an especially egregious affront to the dignity of all Americans who stand for fairness and justice, and I intend to work alongside my fellow Salvadorans and Make the Road New Jersey in the fight against this decision.”