A Statistical and Demographic Profile of the US Temporary Protected Status Populations from El Salvador, Honduras, and Haiti

About 90 percent of Temporary Protected Status recipients are from El Salvador, Honduras and Haiti. At the time that “A Statistical and Demographic Profile of the US Temporary Protected Status Populations from El Salvador, Honduras, and Haiti” was published, TPS for these three countries were up for renewal (but have been since been terminated.) This paper examines the demographics of TPS beneficiaries from El Salvador, Honduras and Haiti and evaluates what would happen to the U.S. and TPS holders if TPS designations ended. Using data from the American Community Survey, the article finds that TPS beneficiaries from El Salvador, Honduras and Haiti have strong familial and economic ties to the U.S. Twenty to 30 percent of TPS grantees from these countries arrived as children under 15 years of age, and about 273,200 of their children are US citizens. TPS holders from El Salvador, Honduras and Haiti have much higher labor force participation (above 80 percent) than the total U.S. population (63%). Of those working, eleven percent are self-employed and likely create jobs for others. After more than half of Salvadorans and Hondurans plus 16 percent of Haitians have stayed in the U.S. for more than 20 years, nearly 30 percent of households with TPS grantees have mortgages. The authors warn that simply terminating TPS without further plans or provisions may increase the undocumented population, who the authors also argue should be legalized. Other recommendations the authors make are extending TPS until adverse conditions are resolved or crating a path to legal permanent residency.

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