The Biden administration made a significant announcement on Friday regarding the extension of temporary legal status for nearly 1 million immigrants from El Salvador, Sudan, Ukraine, and Venezuela. This extension will allow individuals from these countries who currently have Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to renew their work permits and deportation protections. The TPS program offers a legal reprieve to foreigners from countries facing war, natural disasters, or other emergencies that make deportations unsafe.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, approximately 234,000 Salvadorans, 1,900 Sudanese, 104,000 Ukrainians, and 600,000 Venezuelans will benefit from this decision. The TPS designation for El Salvador will be extended through March 2026, while the designations for Sudan, Ukraine, and Venezuela will be extended through October 2026.
The announcement comes at a critical time as the incoming Trump administration is expected to curtail the TPS program. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to dismantle Biden administration immigration policies, enact stricter immigration rules, and launch a mass deportation campaign. TPS designations can be revoked by the DHS secretary, provided that the government gives a 60-day notice.
Both Trump and incoming Vice President JD Vance have expressed their opposition to TPS, with Republican lawmakers and immigration hawks arguing that the program has been improperly extended despite its temporary nature. During Trump’s first administration, efforts to end TPS protections for hundreds of thousands of immigrants were thwarted by legal challenges.
While the Biden administration has extended TPS for existing beneficiaries, it has not made new arrivals eligible for the program. Progressive activists have called for expanding TPS to make it harder for Trump to carry out mass deportations. Redesignating the TPS program for Venezuela, for example, would allow an additional 450,000 migrants to qualify for the initiative.
Advocates have also urged the Biden administration to allow hundreds of thousands of Nicaraguan immigrants to apply for TPS before Trump’s inauguration. However, officials are hesitant to take this step, fearing that it may be perceived as a politically motivated effort to hinder the incoming administration.
The extension of TPS affects a diverse group of immigrants with varying legal circumstances. Salvadorans with TPS have been in the U.S. for over two decades, initially granted the status in 2001 following severe earthquakes in El Salvador. Most Venezuelans enrolled in the TPS program entered the U.S. illegally or through Biden administration initiatives aimed at reducing illegal immigration over the past four years. The influx of Venezuelans fleeing economic hardship and government repression has reached 8 million people.
Ukrainian TPS holders either crossed the California-Mexico border in early 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or arrived in the U.S. under a Biden administration program allowing private citizens to sponsor Ukrainian refugees.
The Biden administration’s decision to extend TPS for these immigrant communities underscores its commitment to providing temporary relief to individuals in vulnerable situations. As the political landscape shifts with the incoming Trump administration, the fate of TPS and the immigrants it protects remains uncertain. Advocates continue to push for expanded protections and pathways to legal status for those impacted by ongoing crises in their home countries.
