Trump administration wants to end Temporary Protected Status for a number of countries.

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Since entering into office at the beginning of 2025, the Trump administration has been taking several steps in the direction of reversing temporary protected status (TPS) for a number of countries.

Temporary protected status is a status that can be granted, under US citizenship and immigration policy, to eligible nationals of designated countries who find themselves in the US and, due to ongoing country-specific circumstances, are unable to return home safely. This status is usually conferred in light of an ongoing armed conflict, environmental disaster, epidemic, or other temporary condition of significant risk. This status can be assigned for a limited time, ranging from 6 to 18 months, but renewable. Individuals who are granted TPS are momentarily non-removable from the US and can obtain employment authorisation.

As of the beginning of 2025, nearly 1.3 million people in the US were protected by TPS. The list of countries included Afghanistan, Cameroon, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Haiti, Honduras, Lebanon, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela and Yemen. According to some US immigration professionals, around 1 million are set to lose their TPS status as an effect of decisions made by the Trump administration. At least 675,000 people who have been stripped of TPS are now at risk of deportation by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authorities.

According to the International Rescue Committee, the Trump administration has taken steps to end TPS for at least 12 countries: Afghanistan, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Haiti, Honduras, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria and Venezuela. While some of these statuses are merely set for expiration, the refusal to extend the TPS for this country may be interpreted as a deliberate and politically motivated policy choice. For other statuses, invalidity results from express termination.

In separate decisions since the beginning of Trump’s second term, the Secretary of Homeland Security has announced expected termination for TPS status for Venezuela and Haiti, whose citizens make up the vast majority of TPS holders in the country. A similar fate has been met by nationals of Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Myanmar, Ethiopia, Somalia, among others. 

Many of these terminations are being challenged at the level of the US judiciary. Judges have ruled in first instance on the illegality of ending TPS for immigrants from Venezuela and Haiti, and some rulings blocking TPS termination are even emanated at the federal level, like for Honduras, Nepal and Nicaragua. These judiciary blockages do not, in turn, remain unchallenged. The Supreme Court, likely because of its conservative majority, is not upholding all of these rulings. For instance, it ultimately allowed the nixing of TPS for Venezuela, and for the moment the decision remains in effect despite pending appeals. Some rulings blocking TPS termination are being appealed by the Trump administration itself, like the one regarding Haiti.

The situation regarding these terminations remains pending, with new evolutions changing the status quo at any moment. US immigration experts note that the number of people currently losing their TPS status has been historically “unprecedented”.

written by Alessia Milillo