CENTRAL AMERICANS GET 18-MONTH EXTENSION OF U.S. VISIT.Byline: Staff and Wire Services Central Americans who have special temporary residency in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. because their countries were hit by natural disasters will be allowed to remain another 18 months. The Department of Homeland Security Noun 1. Department of Homeland Security - the federal department that administers all matters relating to homeland security Homeland Security executive department - a federal department in the executive branch of the government of the United States on Wednesday announced the extension of Temporary Protected Status for citizens of Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador El Salvador (ĕl sälväthōr`), officially Republic of El Salvador, republic (2005 est. pop. 6,705,000), 8,260 sq mi (21,393 sq km), Central America. . The additional time affects about 230,000 Salvadorans, 7,800 Hondurans and 4,000 Nicaraguans, the agency said. In Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , tens of thousands of Central Americans will be affected by the decision, according to immigration immigration, entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence. Motives for immigration, like those for migration generally, are often economic, although religious or political factors may be very important. rights activist William Torres. "Next to Mexican immigrants, Central Americans are the largest group of immigrants in Los Angeles," said Torres, an organizer for the March 25 Coalition, the sponsor of Tuesday's march downtown. "There's literally hundreds of thousands of Central Americans in Los Angeles, and a large percentage of those have temporary protection status. So this is good news for them." El Salvadorans have had special residency since early 2001, when the country was hit by two devastating dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. earthquakes that killed 1,200 people. The temporary status was granted to Nicaraguans and Hondurans after Hurricane Mitch in 1998. El Salvador President Tony Saca pushed for the extension during an Oval Office visit with President George W. Bush in February. Saca said then that more than 2 million Salvadorans live in the United States, the majority of them legal citizens. Temporary Protected Status is granted to people for whom it is temporarily unsafe to return home due to armed conflict, natural disaster or other extraordinary conditions. It doesn't lead to permanent residency. |
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