U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration on Friday renewed Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 900,000 immigrants from Venezuela, El Salvador, Ukraine, and Sudan, offering an 18-month reprieve from deportation and access to work permits. The move comes as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office, potentially challenging the extension.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the renewal, which delays any efforts by Trump to roll back these protections. TPS safeguards immigrants whose home countries face severe conditions such as armed conflict, natural disasters, or extraordinary crises.
Since taking office in 2021, Biden, a Democrat, has expanded TPS to include more than 1 million immigrants from 17 nations. In contrast, Trump, a Republican returning to the presidency on Jan. 20, had attempted to curtail TPS during his first term, though his efforts were blocked by U.S. courts. Trump’s transition team did not comment on the renewed protections.
The latest extensions, however, fall short of calls by activists and some Democrats to broaden TPS to include more recently arrived migrants and additional countries, such as Nicaragua.
Todd Schulte, president of advocacy group FWD.us, welcomed the move, saying it enables hundreds of thousands of immigrants to “continue contributing to their communities, supporting their families, and strengthening the economy.” However, Schulte also urged Biden to further expand TPS coverage.
Venezuelans represent the largest group eligible under TPS, with 600,000 currently covered. The Biden administration first granted TPS to Venezuelans in 2021, citing crime and instability under President Nicolás Maduro, who was sworn in for a third term on Friday.
This decision underscores the contrasting immigration policies between Biden and Trump, with Biden emphasizing humanitarian relief and Trump signaling plans for stricter immigration controls during his upcoming term.
