WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden’s administration on Friday renewed deportation relief that currently covers 900,000 immigrants from Venezuela, El Salvador, Ukraine and Sudan, a move that would delay any attempt by President-elect Donald Trump to suspend those protections.
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) extended enrollment in the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program for those nations, giving those immigrants a deferral of deportation and access to work permits for an additional 18 months.
Biden, a Democrat, has sharply increased the number of immigrants eligible for TPS since taking office in 2021. The status, which is available to people whose home country has experienced a natural disaster, armed conflict or other extraordinary event, is now covers more than 1 million. people from 17 nations.
Trump, a Republican who returned to the White House on January 20, attempted to end most TPS registrations during his term from 2017 to 2021, but was blocked by US courts. Trump won another term by promising a major immigration crackdown and is expected to again try to end most TPS protections.
Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Actions taken by the Biden administration on Friday fell short of broader demands from activists and some Democrats to grant TPS to more recently arrived immigrants and those from other nations.
Todd Schulte, president of the advocacy group FWD.us, said the extensions would allow hundreds of thousands of people to continue “contributing to their communities, supporting their families and strengthening the economy,” but also urged Biden to expand TPS to Nicaragua and other nations. .
About 600,000 Venezuelans are eligible for TPS, the largest population in the program.
The Biden administration, which granted the status to Venezuelans for the first time in 2021, cited high levels of crime in Venezuela related to political and economic instability under President Nicolás Maduro, who was sworn in for a third term on Friday.