USCIS Extends TPS Work Permit Deadlines Again for Seven Countries

The Supreme Court ruled June 25 that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has the authority to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for immigrants from countries facing war or natural disaster.

While the ruling could ultimately affect work authorization for about 1.3 million people nationwide, the decision has an immediate impact on work authorization for more than 350,000 immigrants from seven countries where lower federal district courts had previously found that DHS acted illegally, and blocked DHS from terminating protection.

While all immigrants affected will eventually lose TPS-based employment authorization, deadlines for employers to lay off TPS workers have shifted.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) initially announced that TPS holders’ work authorization would expire July 1; on July 10, however, this date was extended to Friday, July 17.

That day, USCIS announced that TPS holders from the seven countries were authorized to work at least another week if their employers have not already laid them off.

Here are the TPS termination deadlines for immigrants from each affected country, as communicated to employers July 17:

Haiti: July 24
Syria: July 24
Somalia: July 24
Yemen: July 24
Myanmar: July 27
Ethiopia: July 30
South Sudan: July 30

These extensions owe partly to a provision in the Supreme Court decision requiring lower courts which blocked DHS from terminating TPS to reconsider their decision for currently protected TPS holders and issue a revised decision aligning with the Supreme Court’s.

Until the lower courts comply and order termination of TPS for protected immigrants from the seven countries, TPS holders from those countries are allowed to keep working.

This termination order is to take place by July 27.

For TPS holders with no other path to legal status, these deadlines determine how long they keep working — and remain protected from deportation.

The extensions are also intended to give employers time to adjust as federal guidance shifts and lower courts respond.

Elizabeth Taufa, senior policy attorney at the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, said of the federal administration’s stance: “I think that we’ve seen their disdain for court orders that they don’t like. They say they’re going to follow the court orders but don’t. The response is murky on purpose, and employers are following confusing guidance.”

“USCIS could have clarified this issue. Many employers were uncertain, leading them to unnecessarily terminate workers early,” added Jacob Monty, legal counsel for the American Business Immigration Coalition, a multistate network of more than 1,700 employers.

As of July 17, to protect from liability, employers have been given official instructions to state that each TPS holder laid off has had their authorization terminated “as per court order,” but no new court orders have been issued yet.