President Trump is trying to reduce immigration in a number of ways. One is by tightening border security. Another is by detaining and deporting undocumented immigrants already in the country. And still another is by ending a humanitarian program, Temporary Protected Status, or T.P.S., that is intended to allow people from troubled countries to remain in the United States until their homelands are safe.
Since last year, the Trump administration has moved to end T.P.S. designation for 13 countries, prompting several lawsuits from groups challenging the terminations. The issue has now reached the Supreme Court, which will hear arguments on Wednesday in cases involving Syria and Haiti and is expected to issue a decision by July.
The outcome could have far-reaching implications for the program and T.P.S. recipients from about a dozen other countries.
Here’s what to know about the special status.
What is the purpose of T.P.S.?
Congress established it as part of the Immigration Act of 1990, signed into law by President George H.W. Bush.
The program was intended to provide temporary reprieve from deportation to foreigners in the United States for whom it was unsafe to return to their countries because of an armed conflict, natural disaster or other extraordinary crisis.
Both Republican and Democratic administrations have granted many T.P.S. protections. The first country to receive this designation was El Salvador in 1990, when that country was in the throes of a civil war. Beneficiaries are eligible for a work permit. T.P.S. does not offer a path to permanent legal residency, known as a green card.
How does the program work?
The secretary of homeland security determines whether to designate a country for T.P.S. If designated, nationals receive protection for six, 12 or 18 months. The secretary consults with agencies, including the State Department, about conditions in the country in question to decide whether to grant (or renew) the designation. If a country’s T.P.S. is terminated, beneficiaries lose legal protection and must leave the United States at the end of the covered period.
The identities of recipients and their initial addresses are known to immigration authorities because recipients must submit their names, addresses and fingerprints, in addition to paying fees, to obtain the status and work permit.
Which countries have T.P.S.?
As of last year, there were about 1.3 million people from 17 countries living with T.P.S. in the United States. The Trump administration has sought to end protections for about a million people from 13 of those countries.
What is the debate over the program?
Critics of the program have pointed out that a program designed to offer temporary protection has allowed hundreds of thousands of people to stay in the United States indefinitely.
For example, about 170,000 Salvadorans currently live and work legally in the United States under T.P.S. Some have been in the country with the status since El Salvador’s initial designation in 1990. Others benefited from a second designation, after two devastating earthquakes struck their country in 2001.
In particular, the Trump administration has characterized T.P.S. as an “amnesty” program because many beneficiaries crossed the border unlawfully. Eligibility for T.P.S. only requires people to be present in the United States at the time their home country is designated, so even those who lack legal status can receive protection.
What has President Trump done with T.P.S.?
The first Trump administration sought to terminate T.P.S. for El Salvador, Haiti and Sudan, among other countries. It said the original conditions no longer existed. But the terminations, which would have affected about 400,000 people, were stalled by the courts.
After President Biden took office, his administration expanded T.P.S. protections. It added new countries that were in upheaval, including Venezuela, Ukraine and Afghanistan, and re-designated countries like Haiti and Sudan, allowing recent arrivals to apply for the first time.
In his second term, President Trump has stripped protection from some 600,000 people from Venezuela, Honduras, Afghanistan, Nepal and Cameroon, after courts upheld the terminations. Thousands of those people have been detained and deported, and others have self-deported, according to immigration lawyers.
The Supreme Court will decide whether the administration can end designations for Haiti and Syria, which protect around 350,000 and 6,000 T.P.S. recipients, respectively.
The administration has argued that it is not in the national interest to maintain the status for those countries and that the law gives the homeland security secretary authority to end T.P.S. designations without court review
Lawyers for the plaintiffs contend that the administration has violated mandatory procedures for assessing country conditions, arguing the terminations were rooted in political considerations and in the case of Haiti, racial animus.
Haiti was first designated for T.P.S. in 2010 after a devastating earthquake. The status was last granted by the Biden administration in 2021, after the assassination of the country’s last elected president. Since then, Haiti has continued to grapple with gang violence and political and economic instability.
Some T.P.S. recipients have applied for asylum in hopes of remaining in the United States if they lose the status. However, the path to asylum is difficult, and applicants are required to file within a year of arriving.
Miriam Jordan reports from a grass roots perspective on immigrants and their impact on the demographics, society and economy of the United States.
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