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By
Richard Irwin,
Editor,
Immigrants' Rights Update
The secretary of Homeland Security has
published a notice in the Federal Register extending for another 12
months the designation of El Salvador as a country whose nationals and
former residents currently in the United States qualify for temporary
protected status (TPS). The notice also automatically extends for 6
months — until Mar. 9, 2007 — the validity of employment authorization
documents (EADs) issued to Salvadoran TPS beneficiaries under the
previous extension of TPS for people from El Salvador.
The TPS program for people from El Salvador,
which was set to expire on Sept. 9, 2006, has been extended to Sept. 9,
2007. The 60-day reregistration period for the Salvadoran TPS program
began July 3, 2006, and will remain in effect until Sept. 1, 2006.
The U.S. attorney general designated El
Salvador for TPS in March 2001 after it was devastated by a series of
severe earthquakes. Subsequently, the designation has been extended
three times, the most recent extension becoming effective on Jan. 5,
2005, and due to end on Sept. 9, 2006.
To register for the current program
extension, nationals of El Salvador (and individuals of no nationality
who last habitually resided there) previously granted TPS must apply
during the 60-day reregistration period (i.e., between July 3 and Sept.
1, 2006). Details about which forms to file and other application
requirements, including answers to frequently asked questions, are
available in the Federal Register notice whose citation is provided at
the end of this article and also from USCIS's
TPS page for El
Salvador.
Individuals from El Salvador who currently
have TPS and an employment authorization document issued on Form I‑766
whose expiration date is either July 5, 2006, or Sept. 9, 2006,
and that bears the notation "A‑12" or "C‑19" on its face under
"Category" will receive an automatic extension of their EAD to Mar. 9,
2007. When completing the I‑9 process for (i.e., when verifying or
reverifying the identity and employment eligibility of) Salvadoran TPS
beneficiaries who have such an EAD, employers are required, through Mar.
9 of next year, to accept it as a valid "List A" document and should not
ask the employee for any additional documentary proof that he or she is
work-authorized.
Individuals who apply to reregister for TPS
under the program for El Salvador will be required to report to a U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Application Support Center
to have their photo and fingerprints taken. There, the EADs of those
whose cases do not "require[ ] further resolution" will be affixed with
a sticker extending their validity through Sept. 30, 2007, according to
the Federal Register notice.
TPS beneficiaries from El Salvador who know
they will have to complete an I‑9 form for an employer should be
encouraged to take with them a printout of the Federal Register notice
that applies to them, in case the employer balks at accepting an EAD
with either (1) an expiration date that has passed or (2) an extension
sticker. Employers with questions can call the USCIS Office of Business
Liaison employer hotline at 1-800-357-2099 or the U.S. Justice Dept.'s
Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment
Practices (OSC) employer hotline at 1-800-255-8155 (or TDD
1-800-362-2735). Employees or job applicants may call the OSC employee
hotline at 1-800-255-7688 (or TDD 1-800-237-2515).
A set of resources for workers' rights
advocates — "Tool
Kit for Advocates: Temporary Protected Status and Proving Work
Authorization" — is available on NILC's website.
71 FR 34637-41 (June 15, 2006)
(TPS and EAD extension; TPS reregistration);
71 FR 37941-43 (July 3, 2006) (Correction re: EAD extension).
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