The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, ended a three-day visit to El Salvador with the promise of protecting Central Americans living in the “Golden State” and attacked the anti-immigrant policies of the Donald Trump administration.
Newsom, who traveled to the Central American nation with his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, began the visit last Sunday at the tomb of San Oscar Romero, archbishop of San Salvador shot dead on March 24, 1980, while officiating a mass in the chapel of the La Divina Providencia hospital.
In El Salvador, Newsom met with the country’s president, Salvador Sánchez Cerén, as well as newly-elected president Nayib Bukele, who will take office on June 1, 2019.
He also talked with political leaders, businessmen and even deportees, according to a press release from the Governor’s Office dated today.
It was the first visit to “a sister country” by Newsom, who was received by Jean Manes, the United States ambassador to El Salvador.
“It is insecurity and lack of (employment) opportunities that contribute to emigration,” Newsom said today in the press release.
“Instead of supporting the paths towards security and opportunities for the Central American countries, the White House is cutting back on aid and further fueling the road to emigration,” he criticized.
The Democratic politician attacked the Salvadoran press against the US president, Donald Trump, for cutting aid budgets to the countries of the Northern Triangle of Central America, formed by El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
Newsom criticized the US Administration for not “visiting” the Central American region to learn from social leaders, religious leaders, human rights defenders and academics why people are heading north.
“Reading about the humanitarian challenges in Central America is very different from seeing them first-hand,” Newsom said.
“I heard horrible stories, from women incarcerated for miscarriages, to children murdered (by gang members) for going down the wrong street on the way to school,” said the politician.
The Salvadoran community in the US is of an approximate of 3 million people, who according to figures from the Central Reserve Bank of El Salvador, until the third quarter of 2017, only in concept of family remittances, sent 3,684.5 million dollars.
Of these close to 3 million, more than 1 million Salvadorans live in California.
Among the legal reliefs for Salvadorans and other Central Americans residing in Californian territory, Newsom promises to support the well-known project of “Law of dreams and promises” of the House of Representatives, which advocates permanent residence, with a step to citizenship for students who entered the US as children, known as “dreamers”.
In addition, it promises to support people who have documents of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and others covered by the Deferred Forced Partition (DED).
In January of last year, the Administration of Donald Trump announced the suspension of the TPS for Salvadorans, a decision that involves a social and human drama, with families facing separation.
This suspension affects 190,000 Salvadorans who processed the TPS following two earthquakes in 2001, a permit that expires in September of this year.
Similarly, Newsom offered “comprehensive legal representation for immigrants and asylum seekers in California” and other “family reunification” services. (EFEUSA) .-
