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U.S. Department of State Office of the Spokesman Press Statement

Press Statement by James B. Foley, Deputy Spokesman
January 26, 1999

Senior U.S. Officials Head Delegation
At International Migration Conference

Julia V. Taft, Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration, and Doris Meissner, Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, will be joined by 10 other State and INS officials at the Fourth Regional Conference on Migration (RCM) in San Salvador, El Salvador, January 26-29.

Following the recent devastation in Central America, this year's gathering will focus on the consequences of Hurricane Mitch on migration. U.S. officials will discuss migration and immigration policies with their counterparts, including recent measures taken in response to Hurricane Mitch. These include:

• The granting of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to some 150,000 Hondurans and Nicaraguans in the U.S. to allow them to remain in the country for the next 18 months and to obtain work permits.
• The extension for 60 days--through March 8--of a stay of removal for non-criminal Salvadorans and Guatemalans in the U.S. who face deportation.
• A commitment by the U.S. Government to seek to overcome disparities in the treatment of Central American immigrants created by the 1997 Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA).

The RCM consists of the 10 countries of Central and North America. Their dialogue on migration issues began in Puebla, Mexico, in 1996. The group seeks to develop a long-term approach to multilateral cooperation in migration management, encompassing both an analysis of root causes of migration and activities to channel migration into safe, orderly, and authorized channels. The conference seeks balance in addressing concerns of countries of origin and of destination.

As a result of its participation in the RCM, the State Department, through the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM), provided $370,000 this year for a one-time migration return project in El Salvador. The project will facilitate the reintroduction of Salvadoran returnees and deportees to Salvadoran Society. PRM also recently approved $233,000 to fund a public information campaign complementing Costa Rica's recently announced amnesty program benefiting Central American migrants living there.

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