Salvadorans in U.S. to Get Deportation Reprieve

President Bush told visiting Salvadoran President Francisco Flores on Friday that the United States will give undocumented Salvadoran immigrants immunity from deportation for 18 months because of the devastating earthquakes that recently hit the Central American country.

Bush also pledged more than $100 million in U.S. assistance over the next year and a half for reconstruction efforts in El Salvador.

Talking to reporters in the White House driveway after the meeting, Flores said Bush appears to be taking a far more active interest in U.S. policy toward Latin America than his predecessor, former President Clinton.

“We find a sensible change in terms of this administration’s relationship with Latin America,” Flores said.

Bush said the temporary delay in deportation for Salvadorans living illegally in the United States is intended to advance reconstruction efforts by allowing the immigrants to send money home and by avoiding the return of deportees to towns that were heavily damaged by the temblors.

“This is immensely important for us because it will allow Salvadoran families here in the United States to send their help to Salvadoran families in the devastated areas in our country,” Flores said.

“And secondly, he has approved an aid package that includes $52 million for this [fiscal] year and $58 million for next year,” Flores said. “This will allow us to reconstruct our water systems, the basic infrastructure and the housing, which is so important to the 200,000 families that have lost their homes.”

Under the emergency immigration status approved by Bush, undocumented Salvadorans will no longer be detained or deported. Although they will not be given permanent residency status, they will be allowed to work legally in the United States for the 18-month period. The money that Salvadorans send home has been a mainstay of their nation’s economy.

Since the first earthquake hit Jan. 13, Immigration and Naturalization Service officials have halted the deportation of 1,100 Salvadoran nationals.

The Clinton administration instituted a similar deportation amnesty for Central Americans after 1998’s devastating Hurricane Mitch. That storm killed more than 9,000 people, left 2 million homeless and caused about $10 billion in damage.

The earthquake that struck El Salvador in January was a magnitude 7.6 temblor. A second quake, in February, measured 6.6. More than 1,200 people were killed and 8,000 injured in the earthquakes. Property damage was estimated at $3 billion.

A succession of six aftershocks, the largest measuring 4.6 and strong enough to produce heavy damage to populated areas, hit El Salvador last week, causing panic among the population but no injuries.