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TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS EXTENDED TO NICARAGUAN AND HONDURAN NATIONALS IN THE WAKE OF HURRICANE MITCH
On December 30, 1998 INS Commissioner Doris Meissner announced that Temporary Protected Status (TPS) would be extended to Nicaraguan and Honduran nationals for eighteen months as a result of the hurricane disaster in Central America. TPS allows people to legally remain in the US and makes them eligible for work papers. Such status is made available by the INS to nationals of countries who would be in danger if they had to return to their home country. Civil wars and environmental disasters are two common reasons for granting TPS for a country. The period of TPS is from January 5, 1999 to July 5, 2000, and as many as 150,000 eligible nationals are in the United States. Registration is from January 5, 1999 to July 5, 1999.
The required application documents for TPS can now be downloaded from Siskind's Immigration Forms Center at http://www.visalaw.com/forms.
The reason for the decision is the devastation caused by Hurricane Mitch, the most destructive hurricane in the Western Hemisphere in over 200 years. Over 9,000 people were killed, over 2 million were left homeless, and property damage is estimated at over  billion. With current conditions, Central American countries cannot bear the increased burden of accepting nationals deported from the U.S. Furthermore, the affected countries desperately need the 0 million that nationals working in America send home each year to aid in recovery efforts.
To qualify for TPS, eligible nationals must prove they were in the U.S. as December 30, 1998. Necessary forms are Application for Temporary Protected Status, Form I-821, with a  filing fee and  fingerprinting fee, and Application for Employment Authorization, Form I-765 with a 0 filing fee. These forms are to be filed with the appropriate Service Center. Aliens who have been convicted of a felony or two or more misdemeanors and those who would be denied asylum are not eligible.
TPS is a two-edged sword: while protected illegal immigrants are protected from deportation, they must come forward and identify themselves. And when the period of TPS is over, the normal rules of deportation apply. However, it is not unusual for TPS periods to be extended several times. 
The INS has set up a toll-free hotline where information on eligibility and filing for TPS is available. The number is 1-888-557-5398, and information is available in both English and Spanish.
TPS has also been extended to nationals of Guatemala and El Salvador, but only for a period of two months, which is due to expire on March 8, 1999. Armando Calderon Sol, President of El Salvador has said he will ask President Clinton to extend TPS for El Salvadorans in the U.S. for the maximum 18 months.
An internal INS report discovered by the Copely News Service warns U.S. officials to brace for a "mass influx" of migrants from Central America. Many people had left their homes in the fall of 1998, and the number grew after December 30, 1998 when the INS announced it would extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months to Nicaraguans and Hondurans in the U.S. as of that date. 
TPS allows immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally to avoid deportation and grants them work authorization for the covered period, but only to those in the U.S. on the date TPS was announced are eligible. Unfortunately, it seems that many news agencies in Central America reported that TPS meant that the U.S. was giving work permits to all people who had been effected by Hurricane Mitch. 
The number of people coming from Central America into Mexico has grown so great that Mexican authorities are considering allowing them to pass unhindered, without any effort at deportation. In December alone, Mexican authorities captured 5,800 Central Americans, compared to 2,700 in an average December. If Mexico decides to make this official policy, the number of people migrating north would certainly increase. The INS is not equipped to deal with the expected numbers - 4,000 in January alone. Already it has run out of detention space and is releasing illegal immigrants into the U.S. 
Hugo Ayala, the national coordinator of the Grupo Beta, a Mexican government division dedicated to protecting migrants, indicated his organization handled 3,000 cases in December, compared to less than 500 in an average December. He also notes that unlike traditional immigrants, who are prepared for their journey, these people are refugees from a storm that destroyed everything they had. Often, during their journey through Mexico they fall victim to bandits who lie in wait for them, robbing them of what little they have. 
INS Commissioner Doris Meissner says the Service is trying to clear up any confusion in the meaning of TPS in Central American countries. She is scheduled to meet with immigration officials from Mexico, Canada, and Central America in late January.