Congress created TPS in 1990, giving the executive branch authority to designate countries undergoing armed conflict, environmental disaster, or extraordinary and temporary conditions that prevented nationals from returning.
Foreign nationals outside the U.S. cannot apply for TPS, according to a July 2023 report by the Congressional Research Service.
“The statute specifies grounds of inadmissibility that cannot be waived, including those relating to criminal convictions, drug offenses, terrorist activity, and the persecution of others,” the report said.
There is no pathway to citizenship with TPS and immigrants can be deported once the period of time covered by the authorization ends. People who’ve been granted asylum or refugee status can apply for citizenship.
Countries currently designated for TPS are Afghanistan, Cameroon, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Haiti, Honduras, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela and Yemen, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The CRS report said there were about 610,630 foreign nationals protected by TPS as of March 31, 2023.
TPS was first approved for Haitians in 2010 after a major earthquake devastated the country and has been redesignated or extended several times.
Former President Donald Trump attempted to end it for Haiti but legal challenges stopped that. After President Joe Biden took office in 2021 his administration extended and redesignated TPS for Haiti, which allowed additional Haitians already in the country to become eligible.
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