Salvadoran leader asks immigrants to stay in U.S.

Salvadoran President Tony Saca will be traveling to the United States to urge Salvadoran immigrants there to re-register in a temporary visa program. The Central American leader plans to visit Dallas, Houston and Los Angeles Dec. 6-9. Earlier this month, Saca visited Washington, D.C. and New York’s Long Island. During his trip, Saca will ask some 240,000 Salvadorans to stay in the visa program created to help El Salvador after two deadly earthquakes in 2001. The U.S. government extended the program in September. Salvadoran immigrants have until Dec. 30 to sign up for the extension, which allows them to stay in the United States until September 2010. Some 2.5 million Salvadorans live in the United States and sent home a record $3.7 billion in 2007.