Federal Court Rules TPS Can Be Terminated for El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Sudan

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals have ruled that the Department of Homeland Security may proceed with terminating Temporary Protected Status for four countries, El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Sudan. The decision also impacts the TPS designations for Nepal and Honduras, but termination of TPS status for these countries was held in abeyance by the preliminary injunction issued in a federal court case, but DHS may move forward in terminating their status as well.

TPS is granted to certain groups of people in the wake of natural disasters, wars, outbreaks of disease, and other catastrophes that would make it difficult for them to return safely to their home countries. Government officials periodically review the program to decide whether to extend it, and most groups have received regular extensions in the past. To learn more about TPS, please click here.

TPS beneficiaries from the following six countries will not see an immediate impact to their status or work authorization. The status of TPS benefits for these countries is as follows, plus additional time for the plaintiff-appellees to seek additional court review.

• El Salvador: TPS benefits for Salvadoran holders are set to end in exactly 1 year from the announcement
• Nicaragua and Sudan: TPS benefits will remain in place for 120 days from today’s decision
• Haiti: TPS benefits for Haiti will remain in place until further notice, pursuant to an injunction issued by a New York federal district court in a separate case.
• Nepal and Honduras: Pursuant to agreement in a separate court case, TPS benefits will remain in place for 120 days from today’s decision

Affected employees with TPS work authorization can continue to work in the near term. USCIS is expected to issue instructions regarding implementation of the termination, including the validity of TPS employment authorization documents, which are currently valid for these countries until January 4, 2021.