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Refugees – 1993

The roughly 200,000 Salvadoran refugees granted safe-haven in the United States were set to have their temporary protected status expire on 30 June 1993, after President Bush had extended it a year past the prior expiration date of 30 June 1992. Advocates for the refugees estimated that another 500,000 Salvadorans were in the US without documentation and argued that conditions were still too unstable in El Salvador to repatriate such large numbers of persons en masse.¹ President Clinton extended the temporary protected status for an additional 18 months, setting the new deadline for 31 December 1994.²

A Board of Vigilance composed of representatives of all the political parties was created to advise citizens on problems they encountered in getting voter registration cards.³ This was important because refugees in the process of repatriation faced problems due to a lack of legal documentation.

1. “United States will allow Salvadorens to stay,” The Associated Press, May 14, 1992; “El Salvador: U.S. urged to extend safe haven for thousands,” Inter-Press Service, March 20, 1993.
2. “U.S. does not extend Salvadoran refugee program,” Deutshe Presse-Agentur, December 2, 1994.
3. “Report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Observer Mission in El Salvador,” United Nations Security Council (S/1994/179), February 16, 1994.