Opinion ID: 4565247
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: El Salvador

Text: El Salvador was designated for TPS in 2001 because of the effects of three earthquakes that caused the displacement of 17% of the population; the destruction of 220,000 homes, 1,696 schools, and 856 public buildings; and losses in excess of $2.8 billion. Designation of El Salvador Under Temporary Protected Status Program, 66 Fed. Reg. 1421401, 14215 (Mar. 9, 2001). Since then, El Salvador’s designation was extended eleven times by prior administrations. 6 The bases for these extensions included “a subsequent drought” (2002 notice), the effects of Tropical Storm Stan, the eruption of the Santa Ana volcano, 6 See Extension of the Designation of El Salvador Under the Temporary Protected Status Program, 67 Fed. Reg. 46,000-01 (Jul. 11, 2002); 68 Fed. Reg. 42,071-01 (Jul. 16, 2003); 70 Fed. Reg. 1450-01 (Jan. 7, 2005); 71 Fed. Reg. 34,637-01 (June 15, 2006); 72 Fed. Reg. 46,649-01 (Aug. 21, 2007); 73 Fed. Reg. 57,128-01 (Oct. 1, 2008); 75 Fed. Reg. 39,556-01 (July 9, 2010); 77 Fed. Reg. 1710-02 (Jan. 11, 2012); 78 Fed. Reg. 32,418-01 (May 30, 2013); 80 Fed. Reg. 893-01 (Jan. 7, 2015); 81 Fed. Reg. 44,645-03 (July 8, 2016). RAMOS V. WOLF 19 subsequent earthquakes, and Hurricane Ida (2010 notice). Id. In January 2018, Secretary Nielsen terminated El Salvador’s TPS designation effective September 9, 2019. Termination of the Designation of El Salvador for Temporary Protected Status, 83 Fed. Reg. 2654-01, 2654 (Jan. 18, 2018). Secretary Nielsen found that the “conditions supporting El Salvador’s 2001 designation for TPS on the basis of environmental disaster due to the damage caused by the 2001 earthquakes are no longer met.” Id. at 2655–56. The notice highlighted that recovery efforts relating to the 2001 earthquakes “ha[d] largely been completed”; that “social and economic conditions affected by the earthquakes have stabilized”; that El Salvador had received millions of dollars in international aid, enabling it to complete many reconstruction projects; and that “schools and hospitals have been reconstructed and repaired, homes have been rebuilt, and money has been provided for water and sanitation and to repair damaged roads and other infrastructure.” Id. at 2656. It also emphasized that El Salvador’s economy was steadily improving, with GDP reaching an all-time high in 2016 and more growth expected through 2020. Id. The Secretary also noted that El Salvador had accepted almost 40,000 of its nationals who had been removed from the United States in 2016 and 2017. Id. The notice acknowledged that assistance and resources for returnees are “limited,” but that the governments of the United States and El Salvador and international organizations “are working cooperatively to improve security and economic opportunities.” Id.