Noise Around TPS: December 2019 News Headlines

This post was last updated Dec. 30

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.

News Headlines

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. On April 11, a federal judge in New York ruled that Haiti’s TPS designation was unjustly terminated. By mid-May, the House Judiciary Committee moved forward bills in support of TPS and DACA, which passed in the House early June.

In late October, an agreement between the U.S. and El Salvador resulted in additional time under TPS designation for El Salvaor, which means Salvadorans with TPS have until January 2021 to make preparations to leave the country. On November 1st, due to the federal court’s indecision regarding TPS, six countries received additional but contingent time under TPS. Next year, the Supreme Court will also make a verdict on the future of DACA.

Here are news headlines specific to TPS: