On Friday, the Biden administration revealed that nearly 1 million migrants from Sudan, Ukraine, El Salvador, and Venezuela — including members of the dangerous Tren de Aragua gang — will be allowed to remain in the United States for an additional year and a half, marking a setback for President-elect Donald Trump’s strict immigration policies.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) extended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) by 18 months for approximately 1,900 Sudanese, 103,700 Ukrainians, 232,000 Salvadorans, and 600,000 Venezuelans.
This extension will allow up to 937,600 foreign nationals to stay in the U.S. until 2026, though the specific end date varies by country. The protection was initially set to end later this year.
TPS, established through a law signed by President George H.W. Bush in 1990, offers work permits to migrants from 16 countries who are seeking refuge in the U.S. due to dangerous conditions like armed conflict, political instability, or other threats in their home nations.
Trump, 78, ended the program during his presidency, expelling roughly 400,000 migrants before facing legal opposition. He has promised to reinstate these policies if he is re-elected in 2024.
“We’re going to stop doing mass grants of Temporary Protected Status,” Vice President-elect JD Vance declared in October.
The Biden administration’s decision is likely to provoke a prolonged legal battle if Trump and Vance attempt to fulfill their campaign promise.
“Trump can’t ignore what Congress wrote into law in 1990,” said Steve Yale-Loehr, a Cornell Law School professor, in an interview with the New York Times. He argued that only Congress has the power to permanently change or revoke the TPS program.
Only migrants who are already enrolled and meet the eligibility criteria can reapply to continue living and working in the U.S.
Immigrants from Sudan and Ukraine, regardless of their legal status, must have “continuously resided” in the U.S. since at least August 16, 2023, according to the DHS announcement, which will soon be issued as a federal rule.
DHS also clarified that “Venezuelan nationals who arrived in the United States after July 31, 2023, are not eligible for TPS.” It added, “Those who do not enter through a lawful process or pathway will be subject to enforcement consequences.”
The violent prison gang Tren de Aragua, originally from Venezuela, has expanded to over a dozen U.S. states, including California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin, as previously reported by DHS.
DHS emphasized that applicants or re-registrants for TPS must undergo “rigorous national security and public safety vetting.”
“If any individual is identified as posing a threat, they may be detained, removed, or referred to other federal agencies for further investigation or prosecution as appropriate,” the department stated. “Individuals are barred from TPS if they have been convicted of any felony or two misdemeanors.”
In August, 309,000 Haitian immigrants whose TPS was set to expire also had their protection extended for 18 months, with their status now slated to end in February 2026.
The conditional status currently covers migrants from Afghanistan, Cameroon, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Haiti, Honduras, Lebanon, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela, and Yemen.
“These designations are rooted in careful review and interagency collaboration to ensure those affected by environmental disasters and instability are given the protections they need while continuing to contribute meaningfully to our communities,” stated Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in a press release.
{Matzav.com}