DHS extends Temporary Protected Status for immigrants from select countries

The Department of Homeland Security announced it would extend Temporary Protected Status for certain recipients from El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Nepal, Haiti and Sudan, in connection with court orders in separate cases.

TPS is a legal status granted to individuals from specific foreign countries facing unusually adverse conditions, such as wars or natural disasters, that prevents their removal from the U.S. and renders them eligible to work in the country.

The extensions are automatic and recipients need not apply nor pay any fee to remain within the United States, the Department of Homeland Security announced. The extension will allow TPS recipients to keep their status through June 30, 2024.

Of relevance to this extension are two court cases, Ramos et al. v. Nielsen and Bhattarai et al. v. Nielsen et al. The Ramos case addresses the DHS's prior attempt to revoke the TPS status of recipients from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Sudan. An appellate court, however, issued an injunction against that effort and the DHS extension is in alignment with that directive.

The Bhattarai case involves TPS recipients for Honduras and Nepal, and proceedings are currently stalled under a stay pending further litigation in the Ramos case. DHS states that a lifting of the injunction in the Ramos case and a subsequent end to the stay in Bhattarai would result in the revocation of TPS from recipients from Honduras and Nepal. There would, however, be no removal of the recipients for a period of 365 days.