”Trump can’t ignore what Congress wrote into law in 1990,” he said.
About 600,000 Venezuelans who currently have the protection will be allowed to renew and remain in the United States until October 2026, and approximately 232,000 immigrants from El Salvador will be able to do so. More than 100,000 Ukrainians will also be able to remain in the United States until October 2026. Some 1,900 people from Sudan will also be allowed to renew their status.
The program was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush to ensure that foreign citizens already in the United States can remain in the country if it is not safe for them to return to their home country because of a natural disaster, armed conflict or other upheaval.
On the campaign trail, JD Vance, the vice president-elect, called the program illegal when he criticized Haitians who had settled in his home state of Ohio and benefited from it. Haiti has been experiencing political turmoil and gang violence, and some 200,000 of its citizens are protected from removal under T.P.S. until early 2026.
“We’re going to stop doing mass grants of Temporary Protected Status,” Mr. Vance said in October.
Critics have argued that the temporary protections are extended repeatedly and serve as a de facto means to enable people to stay in the country indefinitely, contrary to its intention of being a short-term solution.
While the program has become all but permanent for many immigrants, it also highlights how troubled many corners of the world are and the failure of Congress to pass legislation to update the U.S. immigration system to the realities of contemporary global migration.
