Temporary Protection Status
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a humanitarian policy in the United States that allows eligible individuals from designated countries experiencing conflict, natural disasters, or other extraordinary conditions to apply for temporary legal residency. Established by the Immigration Act of 1990, TPS was initially offered to Salvadorans fleeing civil war and has since expanded to include nationals from various countries, such as Ukraine, Venezuela, and Haiti. TPS grants individuals up to eighteen months of residency, which can be renewed indefinitely, allowing them to work, travel, and remain in the U.S. without fear of deportation during that period. However, it does not automatically lead to citizenship, though individuals may pursue that option. As of recent estimates, around 355,000 people hold TPS in the U.S., with significant populations from El Salvador and other Latin American nations. The policy has faced political scrutiny and debate, particularly regarding its implications for permanent residency and citizenship pathways. Nevertheless, it has generally enjoyed bipartisan support as a crucial avenue for providing refuge to those in need. Other countries also implement similar temporary protection policies to assist individuals fleeing crises, reflecting a broader international response to humanitarian needs.
Temporary Protection Status
The United States has long served as a place of refuge for people fleeing war, famine, persecution, or other struggles in their native lands. Policies overseeing the arrival of such immigrants, and how they would be viewed by the US government, have changed significantly throughout time and depending upon culture. In the twenty-first century, one of the most widespread and influential such policies is the Temporary Protection Status (TPS). This policy allowed people fleeing dangers, suffering, or privation in their home countries to apply for temporary legal residency in the United States. Hundreds of thousands of people have used this policy as of 2023, though it faced significant political opposition in the late 2010s and early 2020s.
Brief History
In 1990, Congress passed the Immigration Act with the goal of helping people in foreign countries who had experienced conflicts, dangerous unrest, or natural disasters. One of the most notable and influential aspects of the Immigration Act of 1990 was the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) policy. TPS was offered to people from El Salvador who came to the United States to escape civil war in their home country. Since then, TPS has been extended to hundreds of thousands of other foreign nationals.
Overview
TPS allows newcomers to the United States, hailing from specified countries, up to eighteen months of residency in the United States. The government has the option of renewing that period as many times as it deems suitable, essentially creating the opportunity for an immigrant to live many years or even a lifetime in the United States. (According to the Council on Foreign Relations, the average TPS holder has been in the United States for at least twenty years.) Alternatively, officials may deny TPS in certain situations, such as when the applicants are connected to terrorism or being convicted of crimes in the United States.
People in the country on TPS are allowed to seek work and travel. They also enjoy protection from being deported during the duration of the TPS. People on TPS are not automatically routed toward becoming full-time US citizens; however, they are also not discouraged from pursuing citizenship if they so desire. People with TPS may find additional ways to extend their stays in the United States beyond the TPS limit, such as by applying for a temporary visa for education or work or showing connections to family members who are citizens.
When a person’s TPS policy runs out and is not renewed, or if a country loses its TPS designation (such as serious dangers are no longer present in a country), a person loses TPS protection. At that point, the person reverts to whatever their previous status had been. Many refugees on TPS had previously been undocumented, meaning that they had entered a different country without formal permission. In that case, without TPS, they revert to undocumented status and are subsequently liable to be deported.
In general, the TPS policy has enjoyed widespread bipartisan acceptance in the United States. Supporters hold that it is an important humanitarian policy that can help innocent people escape danger and suffering in their home country. Supporters also claim that most people on TPS are gainfully employed in the United States and helping the American economy. Deporting these people for some reason would only increase the burden on their homeland.
However, the TPS policy came under heavy debate during the administration of President Donald Trump from 2017 to 2021. Critics charged that the TPS policy had strayed from its temporary roots by giving too many opportunities for holders to become full citizens. They also stated that TPS holders who gained education, training, or money in the United States would be a benefit to their home countries. Trump and like-minded legislators attempted to limit the policy as part of immigration restrictions.
The subsequent president, Joe Biden, reversed Trump’s approach and expanded TPS protections to seven new countries, effectively doubling how many people could end up in the United States on TPS. Biden also pushed to increase the ease of gaining full citizenship for residents on TPS.
As of October 2022, the Pew Research Center estimated that about 355,000 people were in the United States under the TPS program. The Council on Foreign Relations reports that most people in the United States on TPS status live in Florida, Texas, New York, and California. Under Biden’s expansions of TPS, the number of TPS holders was likely to rise, possibly by as many as 175,000, in the coming months and years.
As of 2022, the sixteen countries with TPS designations are El Salvador, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Honduras, Haiti, Venezuela, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Nepal, Syria, Nicaragua, Sudan, Myanmar, Yemen, Somalia, and South Sudan. Of these, El Salvador holds by far the largest number of individuals in the United States under the TPS policy, numbering about 194,000. These TPS holders, along with those from Venezuela, Honduras, and other Latin American nations, make up at least 95 percent of the whole TPS program. Under Biden’s expansion, Afghanistan and Ukraine may potentially take the second and third spots, with 73,000 and 60,000 TPS holders, respectively. In the past, many other countries have held TPS status, including Sierra Leone, Liberia, Kuwait, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Angola, but this status has since been lifted.
Other policies in the United States and elsewhere have similar goals as TPS. For example, the United States also observes the Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) policy, which has basically the same powers as the TPS but is not empowered by law but rather enacted directly by executive order.
Many countries and organizations in Europe and South America have created similar procedures for dealing with people fleeing emergency situations in their homelands. For example, following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, many members of the European Union voted to extend temporary protection to Ukrainian refugees.
Bibliography
“Fact Sheet: Temporary Protected Status (TPS).” National Immigration Forum, 1 Feb. 2023, immigrationforum.org/article/fact-sheet-temporary-protected-status/. Accessed 19 June 2023.
Moslimani, Mohamad. “How Temporary Protected Status Has Expanded Under the Biden Administration.” Pew Research Center, 21 Apr. 2023, www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/04/21/biden-administration-further-expands-temporary-protected-status-to-cover-afghanistan-cameroon-ukraine/. Accessed 19 June 2023.
“Temporary Protected Status: An Overview.” American Immigration Council, 14 June 2023, www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/temporary-protected-status-overview. Accessed 19 June 2023.
“Temporary Protected Status.” United States Department of Justice, Mar. 2023, www.justice.gov/eoir/temporary-protected-status. Accessed 19 June 2023.
“What Is Temporary Protected Status?” Council on Foreign Relations, 4 Jan. 2023, www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-temporary-protected-status. Accessed 19 June 2023.