US President Biden grants nearly 1 million immigrants status extensions ahead of Trump inauguration – JURIST

The Department of Homeland Security announced on Friday that it has extended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for El Salvador, Ukraine, Sudan, and Venezuela, granting 937,000 nationals from these countries an additional 18 months of immigration protection under the TPS program.

The George HW Bush administration established the TPS program by enacting the Immigration Act of 1990. This program grants the US Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security the authority to designate, extend, or terminate TPS for countries based on their assessment of whether conditions in a country temporarily prevent the safe return of eligible individuals. These conditions include armed conflict, environmental disasters, or other extraordinary circumstances. TPS allows these eligible nationals or citizens from designated countries to maintain temporary legal status, work authorization, and protection from deportation in the US. Importantly, TPS does not create a path to permanent residency or citizenship and is subject to renewal in six to 18-month periods.

For El Salvador, the extension is attributed to ongoing environmental challenges, which exacerbated damage from earlier earthquakes in 2001. Ukraine’s stems from the ongoing Russian military invasion, which has caused extensive civilian casualties, infrastructure destruction, and a severe humanitarian crisis. Sudan’s TPS extension is attributed to a volatile security situation caused by political instability and armed conflict. Similarly, in Venezuela, the ongoing humanitarian crisis under the Maduro government has resulted in widespread violence, shortages of food and medicine, and the collapse of infrastructure. Thus, the US government has determined that these conditions make it impossible for nationals of these respective countries to return safely.

TPS is only available to eligible individuals who meet specific residency and registration requirements. For instance, Venezuelan nationals must have continuously resided in the United States since July 31, 2023, while Ukrainian nationals must have been residing in the United States since August 16, 2023. Similarly, the extensions for El Salvador and Sudan are limited to individuals who were already granted TPS under prior designations. These restrictions mean that TPS does not apply to individuals who enter the United States after the specified dates. Furthermore, individuals with certain criminal convictions—such as a felony or two misdemeanors—are barred from TPS eligibility.

This action takes place as the incoming Trump administration is set to begin on January 20. During his first term, President-elect Donald Trump sought to terminate TPS for countries such as El Salvador and Haiti, among others, through a series of executive orders. These actions were met with legal resistance from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on the grounds that they were unconstitutional but were ultimately upheld by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. However, the subsequent Biden administration chose not to move forward with these terminations.

The Biden administration attempted to establish pathways to citizenship for TPS holders through the proposed US Citizenship Act of 2021, which was ultimately unsuccessful. President-elect Trump has stated his continued intention to “revoke” TPS for certain holders in his second term, while organizations such as the ACLU have indicated their plans to legally challenge such actions.