(RepublicanPress.org) – Congress gave the Secretary of Homeland Security the authority to designate foreign countries for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) under the Immigration Act of 1990. That law empowers the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) head to grant TPS status to a country for temporary conditions like an ongoing armed conflict or civil war, environmental disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes, and other extraordinary “and temporary conditions.” The Biden administration recently gave Yemen protected status.
On July 8, the DHS issued a press release detailing Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas’ decision to extend and redesignate Yemen for TPS. The secretary granted the status for 18 months, beginning in early September and ending on March 3, 2026.
The statement explained that Mayorkas consulted with interagency partners to reach his decision. He concluded that “ongoing armed conflict and extraordinary and temporary conditions” in Yemen currently prevent individuals from there from “safely returning.” The notice also advised that granting the extension and resignation didn’t create a situation conflicting with “the national interest of the United States.”
Mayorkas noted that Yemen had experienced “protracted conflict [over] the past decade.” He said the situation severely limited civilians’ access to medical care, food, and potable water. Likewise, the secretary said the ongoing crisis had pushed the developing nation “to the brink of economic collapse” and prevented “Yemeni nationals living abroad from safely returning home.”
In the last couple of years, Mayorkas has designated, extended, and redesignated TPS for 14 other countries. These include Ukraine (August 2023), El Salvador (December 2023), and Ethiopia (April 2024).
Inversely, Trump administration officials focused on terminating TPS in countries unless legal challenges or court orders barred the DHS from intervening in designations granted during former President Barack Obama’s final months in office. For example, the DHS extended TPS status for Somalia and South Sudan due to court intervention.
In a notable exception, the Trump administration granted Deferred Enforced Departure status to Venezuela. However, the DHS secretary didn’t give the Latin American country TPS.
Copyright 2024, RepublicanPress.org
