This post was last updated Mar. 3

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. 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.

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. On January 25, President Trump ended a 35 day partial government shutdown. Early February, Honduran and Nepali immigrants took their TPS case to the federal government.

A federal judge in New York is currently reviewing the future of Haiti’s TPS designation. On February 28, due to the federal court case filed by El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Sudan TPS holders, the Department of Homeland Security extended TPS through January 2020 for those countries.

Here are news headlines specific to TPS:

• [Feb. 2] [CA] Bay Area Organization Leads Delegation to Protect Immigrants
• [Feb. 4] Ilhan Omar bringing Liberian immigrant facing deportation threat to State of the Union
• [Feb. 6] [CA] East Bay, Northern California delegates to advocate in DC for continuation of Temporary Protected Status programs
• [Feb. 8] [NV] Attorney General Aaron Ford signs Nevada onto brief supporting Temporary Protected Status for immigrants
• [Feb. 11] More immigrants sue US over end to protected status
• [Feb. 11] How Ending TPS Will Hurt U.S.-Citizen Children
• [Feb. 11] What Do We Know About Immigrants with Temporary Protected Status?
• [Feb. 11] Immigrants sue US over end of protected status
• [Feb. 11] Immigrants From Honduras and Nepal Are Suing the Trump Administration Over the End of Their Temporary Protected Status
• [Feb. 11] [MA] Fearing separation, Worcester family heads to D.C. for immigration march
• [Feb. 12] [MN] Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison sides with California effort backing immigrants with protected status
• [Feb. 12] [MA] Hundreds Of Mass. Residents Rally In D.C. For Immigrants With Temporary Status
• [Feb. 13] [TX] 49,000 Texas Children Could See Their Parents Lose Temporary Protected Status
• [Feb. 14] Children of TPS join marchers in Washington by staging urgent play: ‘Will somebody please help me?’
• [Feb. 14] DACA recipients and TPS holders left out of proposed House budget deal
• [Feb. 21] Immigrants With Temporary Protected Status Are Fighting to Stay in the U.S.
• [Feb. 21] Many immigrants with Temporary Protected Status face uncertain future in U.S.
• [Feb. 24] The IRC urges the US Administration to provide Temporary Protected Status designation to Venezuela
• [Feb. 28] Democrats to reintroduce Dream Act on March 12 with TPS and DED protections
• [Feb. 28] Rubio, Dems: Don’t Deport Venezuelans, Give Temporary Protected Status
• [Feb. 28] DHS extends immigration protection for four countries amid court battles
• [Feb. 28] Trump administration extends deportation protections for four countries