http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/edi ... 89353.html

Feb. 27, 2006, 8:05PM



Clear vision
Department of Homeland Security wisely extends work permits for Central American disaster victims.

Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

As Congress prepares to review the U.S. immigration code, specific policies are flying into dispute like leaves swirling before a storm. One such case is the fate of several hundred thousand Central Americans given temporary work permits after disasters in their home countries. Last week, the Bush administration wisely extended these permits. Its farsightedness benefits Americans as much as foreign workers.

Temporary Protected Status, as the permit program is called, usually is extended every 18 months until the government decides the workers' home countries can reabsorb them. In the recent political fervor over immigration, though, some federal officials and immigration foes called last month for the Central Americans' permits to end.

That would have been a mistake. TPS was devised to relieve disaster-hit countries by temporarily legalizing their undocumented workers here. It's a low-cost way to act compassionately while strengthening international bonds. Ending it rashly, instead of reviewing it through overall immigration reform, could have backfired on U.S. citizens.

Under TPS, immigrants avoid the isolation of illegality — hard on workers and costly for Americans, who pay in many ways for immigrants' exploitation and fear of law enforcement.

By working legally, the immigrants take part in this society while helping their own. Their power is striking: Guatemalans, for example, send about $3 billion to their country each year; Salvadorans send $2.5 billion.

After Hurricane Mitch struck in 1998, the United States granted TPS permits to 106,000 Nicaraguans and Hondurans. And when two earthquakes slammed El Salvador in 2001, 263,000 Salvadorans got temporary protective status, too.

Last week, the Department of Homeland Security granted a 12-month TPS extension for all eligible Salvadorans, Hondurans and Nicaraguans. Considering the pressure from critics of illegal immigration such as Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., the choice was not only smart. It was bold.

To critics, TPS is just a stealth amnesty. And it's true most TPS workers have stayed since their permits were granted. But forcing them home would cause more problems for the United States than it would solve.

Most simply would have gone underground: good for employers who want to pay substandard wages, bad for almost everyone else. Instead, TPS holders are legally employed, tracked by the government and assessed Social Security taxes.

They also hold off new problems from abroad. Absent the funds supplied by TPS immigrants, the workers' homelands would be even less stable. Those forced home could be recruits for gangs that now constitute a shadow government in parts of Guatemala and El Salvador. And without help from legal workers in this country, more Central Americans would venture into the United States — illegally.

Finally, at a time when anti-American leaders are finding eager listeners throughout the Americas, we need to nurture our neighbors' friendship. El Salvador in particular has been a worthy ally, the only Latin American country with troops in Iraq. Throughout his career, President Bush has stood up for immigrants to work in this country. By extending temporary protective status, his administration shows it understands deep global currents and that it refuses to bow to political gusts.