Approximately 1.3 million illegal immigrants who have been protected from deportation through the Temporary Protected Status program have up to two additional weeks to work in the United States legally as they await the final decision on when they must leave the country, according to the federal agency that manages TPS.
Department of Homeland Security agency U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued a recent statement that gave TPS recipients from seven countries, including roughly 330,000 Haitians, a short reprieve from losing their work documents while in the U.S.
USCIS announced on July 10 that Haitians would have until July 24 to work, while citizens of Syria, Burma, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, and Yemen were given until this Friday, July 17.
The extension was made following the Supreme Court’s decision on June 25 to allow the Trump administration to end TPS for Haiti and Syria. That ruling paved the way for the Trump administration to end TPS for the other six countries.
Congress created TPS in 1990 to aid countries that had been seriously harmed by having to accept back repatriated citizens from the U.S. Countries may request TPS from the U.S. at any time on the basis that recent events — such as war, famine, or natural disaster — make them unable to receive deported citizens.
SUPREME COURT ALLOWS TRUMP TO END TPS FOR HAITI AND SYRIA
The DHS secretary decides whether TPS status for each nation will continue when it expires every six to 18 months. Former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced last year that she would end TPS for Haiti and Syria on the basis that both countries were stable enough to take back repatriated citizens.
In light of the Supreme Court’s decision, lower courts are in the process of issuing final orders to formally terminate TPS, as ordered by the highest court. Until then, it is unclear how long TPS recipients have until they must leave the country or face involuntary deportation.