Temporary Protected Status (TPS)
5 Things to Know

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) offers work authorization and deportation protections for individuals in the U.S. who cannot safely return to their home countries. TPS is a critical program that provides many immigrants an opportunity to remain in the U.S. and work while conditions in their home countries remain unsafe for them to return. Since its establishment, TPS has been beneficial to the United States, providing important protections to families throughout communities and driving important contributions to the U.S. economy and workforce.

Current TPS designations are under severe scrutiny during the second Trump administration. For example, the administration has terminated several TPS designations, including those for Afghanistan, Cameroon, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Yemen, while termination attempts for Burma (Myanmar), Ethiopia, Haiti, South Sudan, and Syria are paused while being reviewed by the courts.

Here are five key things you need to know about TPS today:

1| Most TPS holders have been living, working, and contributing to the U.S. economy for many years

FWD.us analysis shows that many TPS holders have been in the United States for a very long time, having set down roots, pursuing careers, building families, and integrating into American communities and society. In fact, TPS holders from El Salvador and Honduras, who make up a significant share of the current TPS population, have lived in the U.S. for more than 20 years on average. FWD.us estimates that more than 410,000 U.S. citizen adults live in households with at least one current TPS holder, alongside some 390,000 U.S. citizen children.

Most adult TPS holders are in the labor force, many of them working in critical industries that struggle with persistent labor shortages. Some 830,000 TPS holders are working, including 130,000 in construction, 130,000 in wholesale and retail trade, 120,000 in leisure and hospitality, 110,000 in transportation, warehousing and utilities, 110,000 in business services, and 85,000 in manufacturing.

TPS holders annually contribute some $29 billion in wages to the national GDP. And while many live in states with very large immigrant populations like Florida, Texas, California, and New York, several other states–New Jersey, Georgia, Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina–are each home to thousands of TPS holders. Because TPS holders have established such deep roots, abruptly forcing them out of the workforce and country would impose harmful economic consequences on the U.S. as well.

2| Congress created TPS to protect and support immigrants in the U.S. while their home countries struggle with war, devastation, hunger, and chaos

Congress established TPS as part of the Immigration Act of 1990 to provide temporary reprieve from deportation and work authorization to certain immigrants who are unable to return to their home countries because of war, natural disaster, or other extraordinary circumstances.

Many individuals protected by TPS have fled some of the most devastating natural disasters and armed conflicts of our time. The U.S. has protected them from deadly civil wars and natural disasters like Hurricane Mitch and devastating earthquakes. 

The Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security can designate a country for TPS if there has been:

• ongoing armed conflict
• environmental disaster (like an earthquake, flood, drought, or epidemic), or 
• some other extraordinary conditions that would not allow their nationals to return. 

Based on an analysis of Census and other government data, FWD.us estimates that, as of early 2025 and at the start of the second Trump administration, nearly 1.3 million individuals in the U.S. are TPS holders. However, continued terminations of TPS designations and other administrative efforts to restrict access to immigration protections and work authorizations mean that protections for many of these individuals are at great risk.

3| TPS has strict eligibility requirements including limited registration windows, cutoff dates, and background and security checks

TPS is a narrow set of temporary protections available only to a limited population, a far cry from any sort of sweeping “amnesty.” These protections are not granted automatically; the application process requires eligible individuals to apply, pay a fee, and undergo a background check.

Only people who have been continuously present in the United States since the date of designation (or re-designation) and who timely register with the government are eligible. Anyone who arrives after the date of designation cannot enroll, precluding any sort of incentive for further immigration. In addition, in order to avail oneself of a country’s temporary extension, current TPS holders must re-register with the government and again pay a significant filing fee for work authorization.

TPS holders cannot confer their TPS immigration status to family members abroad nor use their TPS as a basis for sponsorship, regardless of the crises they may face, and they cannot access most federal public benefits.

4| Many administrations of both parties have extended TPS protections

TPS has been an impactful and beneficial program since it was established 30 years ago, and has been widely used across both Republican and Democratic administrations—with new country designations issued 34 times in total: six times during the George H.W. Bush Administration, eight times during the Clinton Administration, four during the George W. Bush Administration, seven times during the Obama Administration, and nine times during the Biden Administration.

Many of the new designations under the Biden Administration—including Afghanistan, Burma, Cameroon, Ukraine, Venezuela, and Haiti—have been reversed by the current Trump administration. However, court-ordered stays are currently blocking terminations for Burma, Ethiopia, Haiti, South Sudan, and Syria.

TPS holders are crucial contributors to our economy, their communities and their families. Congress and the administration should do everything in their power to keep TPS holders safe by letting them remain and work in the U.S.

5| Most TPS holders do not have a pathway to permanent legal status, but Congress could change that

While the protections are intended to be temporary, conditions in many TPS countries have not yet improved enough to allow these individuals to return home, and the TPS holders have to stay in the U.S. continually to maintain protections. If the designations are terminated, most will not have any pathway to legal status in the country they have come to call home, and will face having to return or being put into deportation proceedings, separated from their jobs, their homes, and their U.S. citizen children. After two decades of working hard and following the rules, they deserve an opportunity to stay.

Congress must establish a legislative pathway for these long-standing residents to adjust to a permanent legal status and pursue citizenship. Such a pathway for TPS holders who have lived here for a long time would have been possible under the bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill passed by the Senate in 2013, as well as the American Dream and Promise Act, which passed the House of Representatives with strong bipartisan support in the 117th Congress but never received a vote in the Senate. That bill has now been reintroduced in the 119th Congress.

Further Reading

For more detailed background on Temporary Protected Status, check out our comprehensive report on Temporary Protected Status, as well as additional explainers from experts at the Congressional Research Service, the Migration Policy Institute, the American Immigration Council, or the National Immigration Forum.