Thread: U.S. May Scratch Salvadoran Protections

U.S. may scratch Salvadoran protections
Nov 17,005
ERICA WERNER
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration proposed ending protections for illegal immigrants newly arrived from El Salvador, arguing the safeguards interfere with new border control policies.

Immigration rights attorneys and activists said Thursday the so-called Orantes injunction that gave Salvadoran immigrants special rights nearly two decades ago still was needed.

"Many people lose hope in the economy of El Salvador, they try to come to the U.S. to find willing employers, and with this they will have a harder time," said Saul Solorzano, executive director of the Central American Resource Center in Washington.

The protections were mandated by a federal judge as a result of a class-action suit by Salvadoran immigrants who fled their country's bloody civil war and claimed the U.S. government tried to coerce them into going back.

The 1988 injunction required immigration authorities to advise Salvadorans of their right to a hearing before an immigration judge and of their right to apply for political asylum, among other things.

The Justice Department filed a motion in Los Angeles on Thursday seeking to dissolve the injunction. The Department of Homeland Security says the protections get in the way of the "expedited removal" policy the department extended in September along the entire U.S.-Mexico border.

Under that policy, illegal immigrants who don't have a criminal background or pose a national security threat can be removed without a hearing. But because of the injunction that applies to Salvadorans, they are given notice to appear before an immigration judge regardless of their background, said Homeland Security Department spokesman Jarrod Agen. He said many never do.

"Removing the injunction seeks to end that, so that we can put them right into expedited removal so that when they're caught they're detained and removed as quickly as possible," Agen said.

Agen said it takes about 90 days for an illegal Salvadoran immigrant to be processed through the detention and removal process, compared to 35 days for immigrants who are handled through expedited removal.

According to Department of Homeland Security figures, only Mexican immigrants have surpassed Salvadorans in numbers of arrests since the 2006 fiscal year began Oct. 1. In the 2005 fiscal year, by contrast, Salvadorans were third, after Mexicans and Hondurans.

Some 6,600 Salvadorans were arrested between Oct. 1 and Nov. 15 on the southwest border. There were 106,200 Mexicans arrested during that period, and 5,200 Hondurans.

In the 2005 fiscal year, there were 39,300 Salvadorans arrested, compared to 1 million Mexicans and 52,700 Hondurans.

Agen attributed the increase to the new expedited removal policy that, for now, applies to all nationalities except for Salvadorans.

ON THE NET

Central American Resource Center: http://www.dccarecen.org/

Department of Homeland Security: http://www.dhs.gov/

There are other places which have more instability than El Salvador does now. While there was instability at the time the Orantes declaration was passed the number of people who took advantage of it was excessive.
That Orantes still remains such an open door should offend us.