Last year, several countries lost their TPS (Temporary Protected Status) designation. By early October 2018, a lawsuit against wrongful termination of TPS made it to a federal judge, who ruled in favor of TPS which immediately extended TPS for two countries’ whose beneficiaries were about to lose legal protection from deportation: Sudan and Nicaragua. The ruling was appealed and a final decision on TPS was not yet available.

What does 2019 mean for TPS?

A final decision on the future of TPS will be made. The countries of South Sudan, Syria, Somalia, and Yemen have active TPS, so their status in the program is still in effect. TPS, however, is a conditional program that is renewed on a case-by-case.

Six countries are currently at risk of losing their designation if the Administration’s decision to end designations is upheld. El Salvador, Haiti, and Honduras are the three countries with the most TPS beneficiaries. If a decision is not made by April 2019, some of these countries will receive conditional extensions. A federal judge in New York is currently reviewing the future of Haiti’s TPS designation.

News Headlines

TPS made mainstream news last year because of program terminations. Together with DACA, TPS is at the center of negotiations in Congress to provide young people (“Dreamers”) and TPS beneficiaries continued protection. The U.S. is in the middle of what has now become its longest partial government shutdown. It’s important to remember the shutdown is affecting federal workers and not having a solution to Dreamers or TPS holders is and has persistently affected their livelihood.

Here are news headlines specific to TPS:

• [Jan. 3] [NV] Roughly 4,400 TPS Holders In Nevada Await Their Fate 
• [Jan. 3] [CA] California teen leads lawsuit to keep hundreds of thousands of immigrants in U.S. 
• [Jan. 3] [NY] Trial To Begin In Fight To Challenge Trump Haiti TPS Decision 
• [Jan. 7] [NY] Early Arrival: Haiti TPS Trial to Begin Monday
• [Jan. 9] [NY] Trump move to cut off temporary status for Haitians heads to trial
• [Jan. 10] [NY] Facing Mass Deportation, Haitians Sue Trump to Preserve Temporary Protected Status
• [Jan. 11] [DC] A Mom And Her Teenage Daughter Brace For A Future Apart
• [Jan. 11] [NY] A trial on whether Trump has the right to end TPS for Haiti ends. Now comes the wait
• [Jan. 16] [FL] We Talk with an Immigration Attorney About the end of TPS Status for Haitians
• [Jan. 19] By the numbers: how 2 years of Trump’s policies have affected immigrants
• [Jan. 19] Trump’s offer of temporary protection for immigrants to end shutdown is a ‘non-starter,’ say Democrats
• [Jan. 20] Trump Vows Not to Offer ‘Amnesty’ After Right-Wing Pundits Slam DACA, TPS Extension Offer
• [Jan. 23] Analysts Find Restrictive Measures In New Trump Immigration Bill
• [Jan. 24] Here is what you should know about the shutdown legislation the Senate is voting on
• [Jan. 24] Senate blocks White House-backed bill to end shutdown
• [Jan. 25] Why Does Trump Want to Terminate Temporary Protected Status?
• [Jan. 25] Bipartisan effort seeks Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans
• [Jan. 31] [MD] Prince George’s County man fights to protect Temporary Protected Status from ending