SAN SALVADOR, Nov 10 (Portal) – The United States has extended a protected status program that prevents deportation of migrants until mid-2024 for citizens of six countries, including Haiti and three Central American nations, its immigration service said on Thursday.
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is extended to citizens of Haiti, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Sudan, Honduras and Nepal until June 30, 2024, according to a document filed by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The promotion means that their status will no longer expire at the end of the year.
The TPS program provides recipients with work permits and can protect them from deportation if their home countries experience extraordinary events such as natural disasters or armed conflicts.
The extension affects about 392,000 people, according to USCIS, of whom about 242,000 are citizens of El Salvador.
“Thank God,” said Salvadoran Ambassador to the United States Milena Mayorga, tweeting a link to the document.
The extension gives Hondurasers in the program “another 18 months of peace of mind,” Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Reina said at a news conference.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the extension “to ensure its continued compliance” with orders from two pending court cases, the document said, which was sent to the federal registry and is scheduled for official release on Nov. 16.
President Joe Biden’s administration withdrew in October from settlement talks that could have offered further protections to TPS applicants from those countries, putting them at risk of losing their status, plaintiffs in one of the cases said.
DHS said in a statement Thursday’s decision was “consistent with DHS’s practice for the past four years.”
The extension “is a great relief” for those participating in the program, said U.S. Senator Alex Padilla, a Democrat who chairs a judiciary subcommittee on immigration.
Padilla called the move “a step in the right direction” but said more permanent safeguards were needed.
reporting from Nelson Renteria in San Salvador, Kylie Madry in Mexico City and Ted Hesson in Washington; Additional reporting by Gustavo Palencia in Tegucigalpa; Edited by David Gregorio and Rosalba O’Brien
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