US extends protected migrants status for Haiti, others

The United States has extended its Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program for citizens of six countries, including Haiti and three Central American nations to mid-2024.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the extension is “to ensure its continued compliance” with orders proceeding from two ongoing court cases and that it  was “consistent with DHS’s practice over the last four years.”

The DHS said the document, which has been sent to the federal register, is set to be officially published on November 16.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said the TPS will be extended to June 30, 2024, for citizens of Haiti, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Sudan, Honduras, and Nepal.

The action means their status will no longer expire at the end of the year.

The TPS program provides recipients with work permits and can protect them from deportation if their home countries go through extraordinary events such as natural disasters or armed conflicts.

Huge relief 

The extension “is a huge relief” for those enrolled in the program, said U.S. Senator Alex Padilla, a Democrat who chairs a Judiciary subcommittee on immigration.

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Padilla called the move “a step in the right direction” but said more permanent protections were needed.

The extension will affect about 392,000 people, of whom some 242,000 are citizens of El Salvador, according to USCIS data.

“Thanks be to God,” said Salvadoran Ambassador to the United States Milena Mayorga, tweeting a link to the document.

The extension gives Hondurans in the program “peace of mind for another 18 months,” Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Reina said at a news conference.

In October, President Joe Biden’s administration pulled out of settlement talks that could have provided further protections to the TPS enrollees from those countries.

Plaintiffs in one of the cases argue that the action by the Biden administration puts enrollees from the countries at risk of losing their immigration status.

Zainab Sa’id