USCIS to Automatically Extend TPS for Sudan and Nicaragua Nationals Until April 2019

In response to the temporary preliminary injunction issued against the termination of temporary protected status (TPS) for El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Sudan nationals issued last month by Judge Edward Chen, USCIS have filed court documents on Tuesday outlining plans to comply with the order while the appeal case is currently pending. USCIS will automatically extend work permits and statuses of Sudan and Nicaragua TPS recipients through to April 2, 2019. Sudan’s TPS status was originally slated to end on November 9, 2018 and Nicaragua’s ending on January 5, 2019. Authorizations for El Salvador and Haiti recipients have not been extended as they aren’t set to expire until mid-2019. Should be court order not be reversed or invalidated before April 2, extensions will be granted to all four countries for another 9 months until January 2020.

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.

Announced over the past year, TPS for all four countries have been ended by the Trump administration, with El Salvador’s and Haiti’s expiring on July 22, 2019, Nicaragua’s expiring on January 5, 2019, and Sudan’s the earliest at November 9, 2018. Terminating TPS for these countries will end protected status for more than 300,000, leaving less than 80,000 people in the program.