Temporary Protected Status renewed for people from Venezuela, El Salvador, Ukraine and Sudan

The Temporary Protected Status allowing thousands of people from Venezuela, El Salvador, Ukraine and Sudan to reside in the U.S. legally was renewed for another 18 months, according to an announcement by the Department of Homeland Security. 

Joe Biden’s administration’s latest renewal comes only months before thousands of TPS beneficiaries’ protections are set to expire and as millions of immigrants have been threatened with deportations by the incoming Donald Trump administration.  

The renewal period starts March 10, 2025 and ends Sept. 9, 2026. It applies to those who have already qualified for Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, and will re-register to remain protected from deportation under the program for the next 18 months. 

An estimated 27,000 people with TPS resided in the Houston area as of 2019, the majority of them Salvadorians and Hondurans, according to the Migration Policy Institute. 

Individuals from these countries who applied for the first time under previous TPS designations may be granted protective status through 2026 under this renewal.

To qualify for TPS under this designation, Venezuelan nationals must have continuously resided in the U.S. on or before July 31, 2023. Those who arrived after this date will not qualify for TPS. Ukraine and Sudan nationals must have resided in the U.S. since at least Aug. 16, 2023.

DHS evaluated the conditions of each country covered under TPS. 

“After reviewing the country conditions in Venezuela and consulting with interagency partners, it was determined that an 18-month TPS extension is warranted based on the severe humanitarian emergency the country continues to face due to political and economic crises under the inhumane Maduro regime,” a DHS news release issued Friday reads. 

The renewal could impact close to 1 million beneficiaries under TPS living in the U.S., with more than half of them, or an estimated 600,000 individuals, being from Venezuela and more than 230,000 from El Salvador. 

Jorge Márquez, director of the Venezuelan American Center, a non-government organization, said the protective status of thousands of Houston residents will expire at the beginning of April, so they are awaiting instructions to start filing those renewals. 

“This impacts the lives of many of our residents tremendously,” Márquez said. “These individuals now have the duty and obligation to send in their renewals because their TPS does not renew automatically… to maintain their protection and ability to work here legally.”

New applicants and those renewing undergo a rigorous vetting process, DHS officials said in the news release. Individuals who have been convicted of a felony or two misdemeanors are barred from the program. 

Initial applicants and current beneficiaries who have pending applications do not need to resubmit these, the DHS statement states that if approved, their current application will automatically grant TPS through Sept. 9, 2026.

Officials recognize that not all applicants may receive their new Employment Authorization Document before their current one expires, the news release states, but further information will be issued. 

“A soon-to-be-published Federal Register notice will explain the eligibility criteria, timelines, and procedures necessary for current beneficiaries to re-register and renew their EADs,” the news release states.

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