HOUSTON – With immigration crackdown efforts ramping up, some countries under Temporary Protected Status (TPS) have also been revoked, causing residents to have to return home despite unsafe conditions.
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TPS faces an uncertain future under President Donald Trump, who tried to sharply curtail its use during his first term. Federal regulations would allow the extensions to be terminated early, although that’s never been done before.
Congress established TPS in 1990, when civil war was raging in El Salvador. Members were alarmed to learn some Salvadorans were tortured and executed after being deported from the U.S. Other designations protected people during wars in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kuwait, from genocidal violence in Rwanda, and after volcanic eruptions in Montserrat, a British territory in the Caribbean, in 1995 and 1997.
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Currently, Venezuelans along with Haitians and Salvadorans are the largest group of TPS beneficiaries and have the most at stake.
What is TPS?
According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) website, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) may designate a foreign country for TPS based on certain criteria that would make things difficult for residents returning to their respective countries.
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Among the conditions that qualify a country for TPS include:
- Ongoing armed conflict (such as civil war)
- An environmental disaster (such as an earthquake or hurricane), or an epidemic
- Other extraordinary and temporary conditions
During this time, TPS beneficiaries cannot be removed from the U.S., can also obtain authorization to work in the U.S., and may be granted authorization to travel. This also applies to people who are found preliminarily eligible for TPS when their case is initially reviewed.
While a TPS status doesn’t lead to lawful permanent resident status or any other immigration status, a beneficiary cannot be detained by DHS because of their immigration status. Simultaneously, it doesn’t prevent people from applying for nonimmigrant status, file for a status adjustment based on an immigrant petition, or applying for any other eligible benefit or protection.
Countries eligible for TPS
- Venezuela* - DHS Secretary Kristi Noem signed an executive order stopping an 18-month extension approved by the Biden administration.
Designations by the Homeland Security secretary offer relief for up to 18 months but are extended in many cases. Alejandro Mayorkas, the DHS Secretary under the Biden administration extended designations, for example, for Sudan, Ukraine, and Venezuela end in April.
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DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, however, signed an executive order on Tuesday stopping the extension for Venezuela.
Who is eligible for TPS?
To be eligible for TPS, you must:
- Be a national of a country designated for TPS, or a person without nationality who last habitually resided in the designated country;
- File during the open initial registration or re-registration period, or you meet the requirements for late initial filing during any extension of your country’s TPS designation (Late initial filers see ‘Filing Late’ section below);
- Have been continuously physically present (CPP) in the United States since the effective date of the most recent designation date of your country; and
- Have been continuously residing (CR) in the United States since the date specified for your country. The law allows an exception to the continuous physical presence and continuous residence requirements for brief, casual and innocent departures from the United States. When you apply or re-register for TPS, you must inform USCIS of all absences from the United States since the CPP and CR dates. USCIS will determine whether the exception applies in your case.
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You may NOT be eligible for TPS or to maintain your existing TPS if you:
- Have been convicted of any felony or two or more misdemeanors committed in the United States;
- Are found inadmissible as an immigrant under applicable grounds in INA section 212(a), including non-waivable criminal and security-related grounds;
- Are subject to any of the mandatory bars to asylum. These include, but are not limited to, participating in the persecution of another individual or engaging in or inciting terrorist activity;
- Fail to meet the continuous physical presence and continuous residence in the United States requirements;
- Fail to meet initial or late initial TPS registration requirements; or
- If granted TPS, you fail to re-register for TPS, as required, without good cause.
For additional information on TPS, including how to apply, click here.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.