Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a critical humanitarian tool that protects foreign nationals residing in the United States from deportation when conditions in their home countries make it unsafe to return.

TPS made headlines when the Trump administration revoked 18-month extensions of TPS for people from Venezuela and Haiti and announced that it would let protections for Afghans and Cameroonians expire. A March 31, 2025, court order has temporarily blocked the revocation of TPS for Venezuelans, maintaining their protections through October 2, 2026. These policy changes—and the legal challenges that follow—will affect hundreds of thousands of people who rely on TPS to remain safely and legally in the United States.

Get the facts on TPS and what it means for people who cannot return to their home countries due to safety concerns.

What is Temporary Protected Status (TPS)?

The U.S. Congress established TPS in 1990 as a protective immigration status for people from countries affected by ongoing armed conflict, an environmental disaster, an epidemic, or other extraordinary and temporary conditions that make a safe return to their home countries impossible. For more than 30 years, TPS has enjoyed bipartisan support, with Democrat and Republican presidents alike using the program to protect vulnerable populations.

As of March 2024, more than 800,000 people in the U.S. were protected by TPS. Like refugees, TPS holders contribute significantly to the American economy. They fill essential jobs, and in many small towns, economies are being revitalized by their presence. TPS holders are valued members of American communities, schools, and workplaces—and the remittances they send to their home countries help relieve the root causes of migration. 

Zahra and Hadisa share a conversation on the campus of ASU.
Zahra (left) and Hadisa both fled Afghanistan in 2021. Now, they study at Arizona State University.
Photo: Nisha Datt for the IRC

To qualify for TPS, a person must already live in the U.S. Specifically, they must have been continuously physically present and residing in the U.S. before the date the status was designated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This means that people who arrive in the U.S. after that date are not eligible. TPS can last between 6 to 18 months, and can be extended by DHS.

While TPS allows people to live and work legally in the U.S. throughout the duration of their status, it does not offer a pathway to permanent residency or citizenship.

How is TPS extended?

All TPS designations have an expiration date. DHS must review the conditions in countries with TPS designations and decide whether to extend or terminate these designations 60 days before the status expires. When TPS is extended, holders of the status must reapply for protection.

DHS can also decide to redesignate the status, allowing individuals who arrived in the U.S. after the prior designation date—but were already living in the U.S. before the redesignation—to apply for protection.

How have TPS protections changed under the Trump administration?

In February 2025, the U.S. government took an unprecedented step of ending TPS before the scheduled expiration date, revoking protections for Venezuela and shortening protections for Haiti.

Following a legal challenge, a March 31st federal court order is temporarily blocking the revocation of TPS for Venezuela, maintaining protections through October 2, 2026, including work permits (Employment Authorization Documents) for eligible Venezuelans. The judge noted that the premature termination of TPS would cause significant harm not only to the Venezuelans who lose their status, but could result in a “3.5 billion dollar annual loss to the U.S. economy, and an annual loss of 434.8 million dollars in Social Security taxes.”

The Trump administration also shortened TPS status for Haitians, reducing the period of protection from 18 to 12 months. If this decision is not reversed, TPS for Haitians will expire on August 3, 2025, impacting an estimated 520,694 eligible Haitians in the US. A legal challenge to this decision remains pending.

Additionally, DHS officials announced the termination of TPS for Afghanistan and Cameroon, with protections set to expire in May and June 2025, respectively. If these terminations go into effect, more than 10,000 people from Afghanistan and Cameroon—both listed on the IRC’s 2025 Emergency Watchlist of the most fragile humanitarian crises—would lose their legal status.

Against a view of a desert mountain, a man sits with his son on his lap.
Abdul Ghafar sits with his son Adbdullah outside their home in Mosuk Village in Radfan, Lahj, Southern Yemen. The country is facing one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world.
Photo: Kellie Ryan for the IRC

How is TPS different from refugee resettlement?

TPS is a program for people already living in the United States. It is also temporary, meaning holders are not given a pathway to permanent status or citizenship.

People walk past earthquake-damaged buildings in Port-au-Prince, Haiti in 2010
Haitians qualifying for TPS have been allowed to stay in the U.S. since the 2010 earthquake.
Photo: Gerald Martone/IRC

Refugee resettlement helps those outside the U.S. who had to flee their countries due to persecution by allowing them to rebuild their lives in the U.S., with a pathway to lawful permanent resident status and eventually citizenship. Yet, fewer than one percent of refugees across the globe have a chance to resettle.

The Biden administration had taken steps to rebuild the refugee resettlement program after its decimation during the first Trump administration, including by setting an ambitious admissions goal of 125,000 for fiscal year 2025; however, the second Trump administration indefinitely paused all new refugee admissions on his first day in office.

Learn more about refugee resettlement.

How is TPS different from asylum?

TPS is applicable to people already in the U.S. before their country of origin received the TPS designation. In contrast, asylum seekers are individuals who flee their country and apply for asylum after arriving in the U.S. They must prove they cannot return due to persecution based on race, religion, nationality, social group membership or political opinion. Asylum seekers present their case to an asylum officer or in immigration court, and legal representation can significantly impact the outcome.

Once granted asylum, they become asylees, gain legal permanent protection from deportation, and can apply for permanent residency and citizenship. Asylees are also eligible to work, travel abroad, and bring their spouse or children under 21 to the U.S.

One of the key differences is that TPS only offers temporary protection for those needing safety. TPS holders who also qualify for asylum may still apply for asylum to secure permanent status.

Which countries have TPS designations?

Seventeen countries currently have TPS designations. They are Afghanistan, Myanmar (Burma), Cameroon, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Haiti, Honduras, Lebanon, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela and Yemen.

A woman picks her way through the rubble of her village in northeastern Syria.
A woman picks her way through the rubble of her war-ravaged village in northeastern Syria.
Photo: IRC

Venezuelans, Salvadorans and Haitians currently comprise the majority of TPS holders, totaling over 700,000 beneficiaries. DHS determined that Venezuela met the conditions for a TPS designation in 2021, as the country’s humanitarian crisis deepened, and continued this determination in 2023 and 2024. El Salvador received TPS following two devastating earthquakes in 2001, with subsequent developments leading to its extension and re-designation for over 20 years. Haitians have been eligible for TPS since the catastrophic 2010 earthquake, and ongoing conditions have prompted continued extensions and re-designations.

Recognizing the dangers that Afghan nationals may face after the change in government, DHS designated TPS for Afghanistan in March of 2022. DHS later designated TPS for Cameroon, Ethiopia and Ukraine. In November 2024, it designated TPS for Lebanon. In December 2024 and January 2025, DHS extended designations for El Salvador, Sudan, Ukraine and Venezuela.

In a doorway to a home, a couple sits on a stoop and looks away from the camera.
An Afghan family who recently arrived in the U.S. Newly-arrived Afghans have to apply for permanent protection through the U.S. asylum system, which is already facing a backlog of cases.
Photo: Andrew Oberstadt for the IRC

How does the IRC help?

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) offers high-quality, low-cost immigration legal services and citizenship assistance in more than cities across the United States. As part of our immigration programs, the IRC helps eligible individuals apply for and renew their TPS status, identifies whether TPS holders are eligible for other forms of humanitarian protection or immigration status, and assists with legal services where applicable.

The IRC also responds to the world’s most urgent humanitarian crises including in countries with TPS designations like Sudan, Ukraine and Afghanistan. Founded at the call of Albert Einstein over 90 years ago, the IRC remains dedicated to helping people affected by crises to survive, recover and rebuild their lives.

We consistently earn top marks by charity watchdog groups for our efficient use of donor contributions and the effectiveness of our work.

Support our mission—help crisis-affected people survive, recover and rebuild their lives.

How you can help

People with TPS are contributing members of American communities, schools and workplaces. Ending TPS would harm American communities and put people in danger. The IRC needs your support to continue to deliver our critical programs for people with TPS status and other at-risk groups in the U.S.

Learn more about how you can help the IRC continue our mission.

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