Obama Administration Pressured to Grant Protection to Central American Immigrants

President Barack Obama and his administration are feeling the heat from several immigration advocacy groups to grant temporary protection to Central American immigrants. At least 270 of these advocacy groups are pressuring the Obama administration to offer protection to the immigrants and their families who have arrived at the U.S. border in 2014.

According to NBC News Latino, in an official letter, the National Immigrant Justice Center and the Immigrant Legal Resource Center wrote that the 17,500 violated deaths that were a result of gang violence in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador last year were far greater than the death count in Somalia, Libya and South Sudan.

The U.S. government has taken safety measures in preventing a repeat of the events of 2014, in which immigrants went to cross the U.S. border by the thousands. The Obama administration also considered recent illegal border crossers as a priority for deportation.

In early January, the U.S. government began efforts to arrest these Central American immigrants, which included women and children. These immigrants have been denied stays of deportation. The move was largely criticized by many advocacy groups as well as Latino groups.

The report with NBC News Latino says that the Obama administration has already set up the processing for asylum requests, while Congress has granted a $ 750 million aid to help Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador to combat the violence in their countries.

According to a report with The Miami Herald, the advocacy groups urged President Obama and his administration to grant the undocumented immigrants a Temporary Protection Status (TPS). The report also says that should Obama grant the TPS, it could very well spark controversy, as it would cover tens of thousands of immigrants, including children.

The TPS is an immigration benefit that grants protection against deportation to those countries that are designated by the federal government. This would mean that those who have been granted TPS can overstay their visas and stay legally in the country because their country is deemed dangerous and unsafe. The advocacy groups argue that sending the Central American immigrants back to their home countries would be like a death sentence, as Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador continue to experience civil unrest. The letter even called the situation a "humanitatian crisis."

The benefit allows these immigrants to seek a job in the United States. They are also also granted an option to return to their homeland once conditions have improved.