The Biden administration on Friday extended temporary protections for close to 1 million immigrants living in the United States from Venezuela, El Salvador, Sudan and Ukraine.
The decision comes days before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed to end “Temporary Protected Status” for immigrants from some countries. Republicans have criticized the program over extensions that allow some immigrants who entered or stayed in the country illegally to remain for decades.
In a series of statements Friday, the Department of Homeland Security said the 18-month extension to TPS available to some 937,000 eligible immigrants is warranted based on adverse political, economic or environmental conditions in their home countries.
The extension for some 600,000 eligible Venezuelans is “based on the severe humanitarian emergency the country continues to face due to political and economic crises.”
The extension allows Venezuelan nationals who arrived in the U.S. by July 31, 2023, to re-register and retain TPS through October 2026. It extends their work authorization, as well, as long as they continue to meet the requirements of the program.
DHS said adverse environmental conditions in El Salvador, the ongoing Russian military invasion in Ukraine and violent political instability in Sudan also merit an extension of TPS for those living in the U.S.
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About 232,000 Salvadoran nationals are eligible to re-register for TPS, DHS said. There are nearly 104,000 Ukrainian nationals eligible for the extension and 1,900 immigrants from Sudan who qualify to re-register for TPS.
The extended protections aren’t available to new applicants, only those already approved for TPS, DHS said. The agency said applicants go through “rigorous national security and public safety vetting” in order to qualify.
The incoming Trump administration could subsequently revoke this extension or cancel protections, but such action would come with a mandated waiting period, said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, in comments posted on X.
“Under the TPS statute, the DHS Secretary can terminate TPS for any nation, but must give at least 60 days notice first,” Reichlin-Melnick said.
After a controversy in Springfield, Ohio, over the number of Haitian migrants who had arrived, many of them covered by TPS, Trump told News Nation in October, “Absolutely I’d revoke it, and I’d bring them back to their country.”
The Biden administration announced an 18-month extension for Haitians with TPS in June.
Lauren Villagran can be reached at lvillagran@usatoday.com.
