Policy & Research/Report/News/Immigration/TPS

Temporary Protected Status
protects families while also boosting the U.S. economy

New analysis finds that TPS helps protect hundreds of thousands of families while also filling worker shortage gaps in the U.S. workforce. The Biden administration should further expand TPS to protect more families and strengthen the U.S. economy even more this year.
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Temporary Protected Status provides significant protections for families, allowing them to improve their economic condition, keep their families together, and more fully participate in their local communities.

New FWD.us estimates, based on analysis of census and other government data, show that hundreds of thousands living in the U.S. today are currently eligible for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a form of immigration relief that provides work authorization and deportation protections for those whose home countries are very unsafe for return. These TPS-eligible individuals, who include current TPS holders, live with more than 400,000 U.S. citizen children, and more than 500,000 U.S. citizen adults.

Terminology for TPS Population Groups

TPS-eligible individuals: TPS holders plus those eligible for TPS but may have not applied or have an application being processed.

TPS -potential individuals: Additional TPS individuals who could be eligible with the designation of new countries or redesignation of current countries with new arrival dates as outlined in this report.

TPS-eligible individuals are also boosting the economy. Some 380,000 TPS-eligible people in the labor force are working in industries with persistent labor shortages, including 100,000 in accommodation and food services, 90,000 in business services, 50,000 in healthcare services, and 50,000 in other services.  

Since Congress established TPS more than three decades ago, TPS recipients have used the program’s work authorization to support themselves and to contribute enormously to the U.S. workforce and economy. For example: some 86% of TPS holders from El Salvador and 83% from Honduras—all of whom have lived in the U.S. for more than 20 years—participate in the labor force. These labor force participation rates of long-term TPS holders are considerably higher than the U.S. labor force overall (about 63%), and are on par with the U.S. labor force in their prime working years of 25 to 54 years old (about 83%). In all, TPS-eligible individuals contribute nearly $31 billion annually to the U.S. economy.

Many more individuals in the U.S., however, need protection from being deported to countries where their lives would be at risk. For example, current TPS countries in Central America like El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua, as well as Nepal and Haiti, continue to face unsafe and deteriorating conditions. However, because TPS designations for these countries were issued up to 20 years ago, individuals who have arrived since then are ineligible to apply. The U.S. should redesignate TPS so that people who have been forced to flee these countries over the past two decades are able to access relief. Additionally, the Biden administration should provide a new TPS designation for Guatemala, which faces similar deteriorating conditions as its Central American neighbors. Last, it is imperative that the U.S. extend TPS protections to nations in Africa facing armed conflict and humanitarian emergencies, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, and Mauritania. All these countries meet statutory requirements for TPS, with armed conflicts, natural disasters, and/or humanitarian crises.

If all the countries named above were (re)designated for TPS in 2024, nearly 900,000 U.S. citizen additional children and more than 500,000 U.S. citizen additional adults living with TPS potential individuals could remain together, safe from family separation from deportation.

This combined group of immigrants from all countries listed above and potentially eligible for TPS already contributes more than $50 billion to the U.S. economy annually, despite the fact that they are undocumented and work in the informal economy. With work authorization available through TPS, they could contribute an estimated $5 billion more each year. Work authorization available through TPS would also enable TPS-potential individuals to work in higher-paying jobs and give them the career flexibility to meet labor demands in short-handed industries.

Providing formal work authorization would allow these individuals to contribute to industries struggling to fill critically needed open jobs. Nearly 600,000 of this combined group already work in industries that have been experiencing historic and persistent labor shortages during the past year, including nearly 200,000 in accommodation and food services, 180,000 in business services, 40,000 in healthcare services, and 90,000 in other services. But with work authorizations, more people could shift to industries with the greatest needs.

TPS provides lifesaving relief for those whose home countries are very unsafe

Congress established the Temporary Protected Status program as part of the Immigration Act of 1990. TPS is currently administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), under the Department of Homeland Security. 

Since TPS was established, new designations have been issued 33 times by Republican and Democratic presidents, including six times during the George H.W. Bush administration, ten times during the Clinton administration, twice during the George W. Bush administration, seven times during the Obama administration, and eight times so far during the Biden administration.

Immigrants can apply for TPS if Congress or the Secretary of Homeland Security issues a designation that “conditions in the country temporarily prevent the country’s nationals from returning safely.” Many TPS recipients originally entered the U.S. as temporary immigrants or visitors, individuals seeking humanitarian relief, or without immigration status.

For more information on Temporary Protected Status, see our TPS blog: 5 things to know.

Upon registration with and approval by USCIS, TPS holders are protected from deportation and can receive work authorization. Only individuals already in the U.S. when a designation is announced are eligible to receive TPS. The program is not a substitute for refugee or asylum protections, which provide permanent relief to individuals who are actively fleeing dangerous conditions and need to permanently resettle; TPS is instead a temporary relief for individuals who are already in the U.S. and who cannot safely return home.

Many TPS holders have lived in the United States for many years, setting down roots and building families here. As a result, many TPS recipients are deeply ingrained into American families and communities. Whether these families will be able to remain safe and together is inextricably bound to their loved ones’ TPS protections.

TPS expansion should be at the forefront of President Biden’s immigration agenda in 2024

The Biden administration has already used its legal, statutory authority to expand deportation protections and work authorizations to hundreds of thousands of new individuals. But the opportunity to expand TPS to other immigrants, many of whom have been in the United States for many years, is still available, and would be supported by the American people. Polling from FWD.us shows that two-thirds of voters in key 2024 battleground states support expanding TPS to crisis-ridden countries.

The economic benefits are clear—expanded work authorization would boost the economy in 2024 and provide greater certainty for employers desperately trying to fill worker shortages. 

Work authorizations through TPS would also help tens of thousands of newly arrived immigrants in several U.S. cities provide for themselves and their families, instead of being forced to rely on city services. And work authorizations through TPS would allow most to send money back home to their families; historical evidence suggests that these remittances could help reduce irregular migration from these countries.

The Biden administration should immediately expand TPS to more countries in 2024. The conditions warrant it. The administration has legal authority to do it. U.S. families need it. Employers are asking for it. The public approves of it. Our borders and cities will be better for it.

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