Immigrants from Ukraine and Sudan can keep their temporary protected status in the United States for now, the Department of Homeland Security said on Monday — the very day their protections had been set to expire. In a statement, a DHS spokesperson said announcements on Ukrainian and Sudanese TPS holders would "be made at the appropriate time," and that their immigration protections would remain in place in the meantime.
Temporary protected status allows people already in the United States to stay and work legally when their home countries are hit by armed conflict, natural disasters or other extraordinary conditions. Some 240,000 Ukrainians who fled Russia's invasion have registered for TPS in the United States. An estimated 6,800 TPS holders come from Sudan, where a war between the army and a rival paramilitary force has created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
Monday's hold is the second in as many months. In September, the administration allowed TPS holders from El Salvador to retain their protections. At the same time, President Trump has moved to end TPS for other nationalities as part of his immigration crackdown — revoking protections from Haitians, Venezuelans, Somalis, Yemenis and Syrians, among others — while deportation operations continue at full pace. DHS gave no reason for the pause on Ukraine and Sudan and no date for a final decision; the statement means no one's status lapses while the department decides.
"The appropriate time to act was weeks ago. Families who depend on this status to stay safe and keep working deserve a formal decision in writing."
Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Global Refuge, a faith-based refugee organization, welcomed the respite for Ukrainians and Sudanese enrolled in TPS but urged DHS to issue an official decision so that enrollees, their dependents and their employers have certainty. For now, that certainty is a holding pattern: the protections stand, the announcement is promised "at the appropriate time," and roughly a quarter of a million people wait on a decision the department has not yet put in writing.
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