The Trump administration is expected to make a decision this week on the fate of El Salvador natives who are living in the United States under temporary protected status, or TPS.
Immigrants from El Salvador gathered in Brentwood Sunday to discuss the impending decision and its ramifications. Salvadorans with the protected status have been living in the U.S. and on Long Island since 2001, and have been working, paying taxes and sending their children to local schools.
As News 12 has reported, El Salvador was granted the temporary protected status in 2001 after an earthquake there devastated part of the county. The status covers about 260,000 people nationwide, including 25,000 living in New York.
"We do everything like a U.S. citizen does, except we don't have the passport," explains Rosa Martinez, of Bay Shore. "We do everything, we pay taxes, we live here, we own houses, we have our families that go to school in our schools. I consider this country my country also."
The Trump administration last year ended the protected status for people from Haiti, Nicaragua and Sudan.
The administration is expected to release its decision by Tuesday.