WASHINGTON — Rep. Jim McGovern is leading 80 members of Congress in urging the Department of Homeland Security to extend Temporary Protected Status for Salvadorans, a designation set to expire Sept. 9 that was granted after a series of devastating earthquakes struck the country in 2001.

Without an extension, 200,000 Salvadoran TPS holders may be facing deportation.

In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, lawmakers argued that ending TPS for Salvadorans would have sweeping consequences for families and the U.S. economy.

Lawmakers contend El Salvador cannot safely absorb the return of those migrants, citing economic instability, strained public services and reports of deportees being detained or disappearing after returning.

“Not only do the conditions that initially warranted TPS designation for El Salvador in 2001 persist, but serious new humanitarian, economic, and human rights crises compound El Salvador’s inability to handle the return of its nationals,” the letter states.

Salvadoran TPS holders are a significant part of the U.S. workforce, according to the letter. Nearly 90% are employed, contributing an estimated $5.4 billion to the economy and paying $1.5 billion annually in federal, state and local taxes. Many work in industries facing labor shortages, including construction, transportation, manufacturing, food service and landscaping.

The letter also cites reports from human rights organizations documenting arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances, mass trials, the detention of more than 3,000 children and more than 500 deaths in custody in El Salvador since 2022. Independent reports, lawmakers wrote, found migrants deported to El Salvador are often jailed without judicial review or due process.

More than 150,000 U.S. citizen children have a parent protected under TPS, the lawmakers wrote. Many recipients have lived and worked legally in the United States for decades but have no pathway to permanent residency. About one in five Salvadoran TPS holders arrived in the United States before age 16.

“Terminating their status would cause immeasurable harm to them, to their U.S.-citizen children and families, and to the American communities and economy they support,” the letter states.

The letter is endorsed by the National TPS Alliance, American Business Immigration Coalition, Allianza Americas, National Day Laborer Organizing Network, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), CASA, CARCEN-LA, FWD.us and the National Domestic Workers Alliance.

The letter comes after a Supreme Court ruling this month allowed the Trump administration to end deportation protections for hundreds of thousands of Haitians and thousands of Syrians covered by TPS.