Posts Tagged ‘McFarland’

Progress on TPS: McFarland Sends Report to Washington

Wednesday, September 15th, 2010

U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala Stephen McFarland submitted a report to Washington on the effects of Tropical Storm Agatha and the volcanic eruption this spring.  While the report itself is not available at the moment, the fact that the report was submitted is a clear indication that progress is being made on the TPS request, and that the Obama administration has not completely forgotten about Guatemala.

The report follows a visit by Ambassador McFarland to San Lucas Tolimán, which was seriously impacted by Agatha. About 120 families are still without permanent shelter there, with rebuilding efforts being led by USAID and the local Catholic diocese. The official story on Ambassador McFarland’s visit to San Lucas is available here (in English) and here (in Spanish).

The submission of the report is a good sign for everyone awaiting TPS, and will hopefully lead to more progress on the request.  It is still unlikely that a final decision will be reached before November, but November keeps getting closer, so news like this is certainly a positive sign.

Guatemalan Organizations met with U.S Ambassador Stephen McFarland

Thursday, June 24th, 2010

Both Prensa Libre and Siglo XXI reported on a meeting this week between Marcos Yax, president of the Coalición de Inmigrantes de Guatemala (roughly translated, the Coalition of Guatemalan Immigrants). The goal of the meeting was to share the Coalition’s support for Guatemala’s TPS application, and Mr. Yax submitted letters of support from twenty-four other organizations.

In addition to his meeting with Ambassador McFarland, Mr. Yax was scheduled to fly to Washington, D.C. in an attempt to meet with and lobby Secretary of State Hilary Clinton as well as Senators and Congressmen.  We have been unable to find any reports as to whether these meetings happened, and welcome any word from those of you who have some information on the matter.