General Information on TPS

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a form of lawful non-immigrant status for foreign nationals; in effect, it creates a temporary “safe haven” in the United States for certain foreign nationals currently in the country.

TPS is available to nationals (and habitual residents) of certain countries that have been designated for TPS due to ongoing temporary conditions in those countries. TPS is, by its name and nature, a temporary designation: it is established for a period of six to 18 months, but extensions are possible.

People from countries like El Salvador, Haiti, Venezuela and Nicaragua who won temporary protected status after fleeing natural disaster and war can be forced to return home, a federal appeals court ruled.

LOS ANGELES — A federal appeals court ruled on Monday that the Trump administration acted within its authority in terminating legal protections that have allowed hundreds of thousands of immigrants to live and work legally in the United States, sometimes for decades, after fleeing conflict or natural disasters in their home countries.

The 2-1 ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit effectively strips legal immigration status from some 400,000 people, rendering them deportable if they do not voluntarily leave the country. The decision affects the overwhelming majority of beneficiaries of a program offering what is known as “temporary protected status,” which has permitted them to remain in the United States after being uprooted from their unstable homelands.