Temporary protected status: Who is protected by Biden’s latest extension?
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One of Joe Biden’s final acts on immigration was to extend four grants of Temporary Protected Status – covering nearly one million immigrants from Venezuela, El Salvador, Ukraine, and Sudan – through to 2026. Nearly a million immigrants will continue to be allowed to live and work for the next two years in the United States under emergency legislation extended by Joe Biden in one of the last decrees of his presidency.
![[Undocumented Migrant Crossings Into US dropped to 4-Year low In November]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/09/21/2192508309.jpg)
With Donald Trump hoping to expand his “America First” agenda after defeating Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election with strong anti-migrant rhetoric, this latest move from Biden will likely be taken personally by the president-elect. The Temporary Protected Status (TPS) extension will cover those living in the United States from Venezuela, El Salvador, Sudan and Ukraine and will run until the fall of 2026.
![[Michel Bérrios fears deportation back to El Salvador under Trump]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/16/07/Immigration_Self_Deportation_80740.jpg)
A 1990 law signed by then-president George HW Bush allows the president (through the Secretary of Homeland Security) to grant immigrants in the United States the ability to live and work legally if their home countries aren’t safe because of armed conflict, natural disasters, or other “extraordinary and temporary conditions.”.
The extensions will allow people from those countries who are currently protected under TPS to apply for another 18 months of protection from deportation and work permits. TPS is granted for a given country for 18 to 24 months at a time, usually in the aftermath of a war, natural disaster, or other humanitarian emergency that prevent people from safely returning to their home countries.
