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Local Salvadorans worry about future in U.S.

An estimated 2,000 Salvadorans are living in Washington under temporary protected status.
Berta Arteaga, owner of Berta's Salvadoran Kitchen in Burien, like all other Salvadorian refugees, has 18 months to leave the U.S.

Thousands of people from El Salvador, who have lived legally in the U.S. for years, are worried about their future in the United States. The Trump administration announced an end to special protections that have allowed Salvadorans to escape violence in their homeland and build lives here.

An estimated 2,000 Salvadorans currently live in Washington, according to OneAmerica, a Seattle organization that works on immigration issues.

Berta Arteaga owns Berta's Salvadoran Kitchen in Burien. She says she is living here under temporary protected status.

TPS, as it's called, provides a safe haven in the U.S. for foreigners, whose lives have been upended by disasters or violence.

The TPS for El Salvador was put in place after a pair of devastating earthquakes in 2001, and now the Trump administration says it's time for that temporary protection to end, saying the conditions caused by the quakes no longer exist.

Salvadorans like Arteaga have 18 months to leave the U.S. or face deportation.

Through an interpreter, Arteaga said she is really worried about going back to her country because it's dangerous. She says she has few connections there anymore. It would be a new beginning in a difficult place, she said.

A U.S. travel warning for El Salvador says the country has one of the highest homicide levels in the world. Crimes such as extortion, assault, and robbery are common. Gang activity is widespread.

But the TPS was for earthquakes, not crime.

Berta's Salvadoran Kitchen has served customers for two years. She says her family's money is invested in this business. If she goes back, she says she'll have nothing.

The Department of Homeland Security says Salvadorans who are eligible could seek legal immigration status in the U.S. DHS says in the lead-up to this announcement, it conducted extensive outreach to the Salvadoran community, including forums on legal status and conversations with Salvadoran community leaders.

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