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The Department of Homeland Security is moving to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for nationals of seven countries after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to proceed with terminating protections for thousands of Haitian and Syrian nationals.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued a series of notices to agencies using the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program concerning TPS beneficiaries from Haiti, Syria, Somalia, Yemen, Ethiopia, Burma (Myanmar) and South Sudan.
The notices state that TPS-related documentation for affected individuals will remain valid only through July 10.
The action follows the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision in Mullin v. Doe, which involved TPS protections for Haiti and Syria. In that case, the court ruled in favor of the Department of Homeland Security and lifted lower-court orders that had blocked the administration from ending TPS designations for those two countries.
USCIS did not characterize the July 10 deadline as a long-term extension. Instead, several notices describe the brief continuation as “limited relief” that will remain in effect only until lower courts “align” with the Supreme Court’s ruling in Mullin.
The language indicates DHS believes the Supreme Court’s decision provides broader authority beyond Haiti and Syria, while recognizing that some lower-court injunctions remain in place.
The agency instructed SAVE users, including state and local governments that verify immigration status for public benefits and other programs, to follow updated verification procedures for affected TPS recipients.
Temporary Protected Status allows eligible foreign nationals already in the United States to remain in the country and obtain work authorization when conditions such as armed conflict, natural disasters or other extraordinary circumstances make returning to their home countries unsafe. Although intended to be temporary, many TPS designations have been repeatedly extended over the years.
The Trump administration has argued that several TPS designations have continued beyond their original purpose and that the executive branch has broad authority to determine when conditions no longer justify maintaining protected status.
The notices do not indicate whether the Department of Justice has asked courts overseeing each affected country’s litigation to dissolve or modify existing injunctions. However, they state that DHS is preparing to end TPS protections for nationals of the seven countries on July 10 unless another court intervenes.