Temporary Protected Status (TPS) will be extended until June 30, 2024 for citizens of Haiti, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Sudan, Honduras and Nepal, according to a document filed by US Citizenship and Immigration Services. The action means their status will no longer expire at the end of the year. The TPS program provides recipients with work permits and can protect them from deportation if their home countries experience extraordinary events such as natural disaster or armed conflict. The extension will affect about 392,000 people, of whom about 242,000 are citizens of El Salvador, according to USCIS data. “Thank God,” Salvadoran ambassador to the United States Milena Mayorga said, tweeting a link to the document. The extension gives the Hondurans in the program “calm for another 18 months,” Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Reyna told a news conference. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the extension “to ensure its continued compliance” with orders stemming from two ongoing court cases, said the document, which was sent to the Federal Register and is set to be formally published on Nov. 16. . President Joe Biden’s administration in October walked away from settlement talks that could have provided further protections to TPS registrants from those countries and put them at risk of losing their status, according to plaintiffs in one of the cases . DHS said in a statement that Thursday’s decision was “consistent with DHS practice over the past four years.” The extension “is a huge relief” to those enrolled in the program, said U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, a Democrat who chairs a Judiciary subcommittee on immigration. Padilla called the move “a step in the right direction,” but said more permanent protections are needed. Reporting by Nelson Renteria in San Salvador, Kylie Madry in Mexico City and Ted Hesson in Washington. Additional reporting by Gustavo Palencia in Tegucigalpa. Editing by David Gregorio and Rosalba O’Brien Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
