declared the country of Ecuador to be engaged in an internal armed conflict, imposed a nationwide curfew for citizens, and authorized members of the Ecuadorian military to patrol the streets and arrest suspected gang members. (8) On January 9, 2024, gang members conducted an armed assault of a television news broadcast in Guayaquil, Ecuador, with multiple armed men in masks hijacking a live broadcast, firing several rounds of ammunition live on air, and injuring multiple television station employees. (9) On January 17, 2024, also in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Cesar Suarez, a criminal prosecutor who was actively investigating organized crime in Ecuador, was shot dead in his car during his morning commute. (10) In recent years and in early 2024, Ecuador’s humanitarian crisis catalyzed the mass migration to the United States of ordinary Ecuadorian citizens fleeing unspeakable violence and instability in their home country. (11) On January 25, 2024, Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfield actively called on the United States to grant temporary protected status for Ecuadorian citizens. (12) Based on recent migration statistics compiled from the American Community Survey, demographers estimate that as many as 300,000 Ecuadorians currently residing in the U.S. could benefit from a designation of temporary protected status, providing them with life-saving protection from deportation and allowing them access to work authorization in the United States to support themselves and their families. (13) The crisis facing Ecuador amounts to extraordinary and temporary conditions that prevent Ecuadorian nationals from safely returning to Ecuador, thus meriting a temporary protected status designation for no less than 18 months in duration. 3. Designation for purposes of granting temporary protected status (a) Designation (1) In general For purposes of section 244 of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1254a ), Ecuador shall be treated as if such country had been designated under subsection (b)(1)(C) of that section,