The Department of Homeland Security has announced that it is extending four grants of Temporary Protected Status, covering nearly 1 million immigrants from Venezuela, El Salvador, and other countries, as one of the Biden administration’s last immigration-related actions. Ukraine, and Sudan – through fall 2026. The extensions will allow people from those countries who are currently protected under TPS to apply for another 18 months of protection from deportation and work permits.
The announcements, which are set to be formally published on Friday, January 17 – the last weekday before Biden leaves office – are slightly unusual.
TPS is granted for a given country for 18 to 24 months at a time, usually in the aftermath of a war, natural disaster, or other humanitarian emergency that prevent people from safely returning to their home countries. Typically, the government waits until that period is nearly over before announcing whether it will extend TPS protections for current beneficiaries, and/or redesignate the country for TPS so that newly arrived people from that country can sign up for protections for the first time.
In this case, however, El Salvador’s TPS was not set to expire until March. The other three countries’ designations were set to expire in April. Now, thanks to the Biden administration’s announcement, all will be extended for 18 months beyond that time.
The upshot of this is clear. President-elect Donald Trump tried, during his first term in office, to end TPS protections for several countries – including El Salvador. While his efforts were largely stymied by federal courts, Trump associates have made it clear that they intend to sunset many or all existing TPS protections – which will, once current protections expire, dump hundreds of thousands of people out of legal status and make them deportable.
The Biden administration’s moves postpone the Trump administration’s ability to sunset TPS protections for these four countries. Hundreds of thousands of immigrants will benefit: the Biden administration estimates that 607,000 Venezuelans in the U.S. are protected by TPS, as well as 232,000 Salvadorans; 103,700 Ukrainians; and 1,900 Sudanese nationals.
However, the Trump administration will still have plenty of chances to push people out of legal status. South Sudan’s TPS designation is set to expire in June; Honduras and Nicaragua are set to lose theirs in July. In addition to the Trump administration’s expected move to end the Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan (CHNV) parole program and potential court action to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, the incoming administration will have plenty of chances to take immigrants who currently hold a form of legal recognition under U.S. law and make them undocumented and deportable.
And even the countries extended by Biden now will still lose their TPS designation when the next chance for review comes up in fall 2026 (September 2026 for El Salvador, and October 2026 for the others). However, the Biden administration’s proactive steps for these four countries will give beneficiaries a reprieve, and a chance to find another way to stay in the U.S. or make other plans.
FILED UNDER: Biden Administration, Donald Trump, El Salvador, Ukraine
