Ukrainian and Sudanese immigrants in the United States with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) will keep their protections for at least another six months, after the Trump administration left decisions on both countries' designations unresolved Monday.
The development comes a couple weeks before the midterm elections and follows bipartisan concerns, including from Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, about the fate of Ukrainians who fled Russia's 2022 invasion and have been living legally in the U.S. since.
The Trump administration has largely sought to end TPS for various countries as their statuses came to an end over the past 21 months, with hundreds of thousands of people losing work permits and protections from deportation, despite concerns of ongoing conflicts and unstable conditions in their home countries, including Venezuela, Haiti, and Afghanistan.
Both Ukraine and Sudan's TPS designations were set to expire Monday, with no official announcement on an extension or termination from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), meaning a by-default six-month extension.
A spokesperson for the department told Newsweek Monday that decisions for both countries would be made "at the appropriate time," and until that happens, TPS holders from both countries can remain in the U.S. under TPS protections.
While protections can continue for now, some advocates have warned that the lack of a clear decision beyond the next few months leaves thousands of people in limbo.
"If the Trump administration doesn't want to end TPS for Ukraine and Sudan, it could have done so by following the law and announcing an extension for as few as 6 months," Dara Lind, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, told Newsweek Monday. "By choosing not to follow the law, it's throwing immigrants and employers into a state of day-to-day existential uncertainty. It's long past time for Congress to step in and allow TPS holders who've been complying with the law for years to apply for permanent status."
Immigration Policy and the Midterms
The move comes as immigration remains one of the most closely watched issues heading into next month's midterms.
A Pew Research Center survey in May found 52 percent of Americans said the Trump administration was doing too much to deport immigrants living in the country illegally, while 31 percent said it was doing the right amount. In June, Gallup found 73 percent of Americans viewed immigration as a good thing for the country, although this was down on 79 percent a year earlier.
In an ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos survey, conducted October 9-13, the GOP's former advantage over Democrats on the issue had vanished, with the latter taking a 2-point lead when it came to voter trust on the matter—37 percent to 35 percent.
Concerns grew about the administration's handling of a core issue that saw President Donald Trump return to office when protests spread across the U.S. following the fatal shootings of two American citizens during protests against sweeping immigration enforcement in Minneapolis in January.
Trump has seen pushback within his own party in recent months when it comes to immigration, including from Collins following a fatal shooting in Maine, and Florida Representative Maria Salazar, who posted a video filmed outside the White House in which she said some of the president's policies had gone too far.
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What Are Conditions Like in Ukraine, Sudan?
When terminating TPS for other countries, DHS has cited improved conditions in countries which originally obtained TPS because of the outbreak of war, an environmental disaster, or political instability, among other reasons.
Despite situations remaining volatile in Haiti, Venezuela, Afghanistan, Somalia, Syria, and other nations which still saw high-risk travel warnings from the Department of State, DHS opted to end the protections.
In some cases, this led to legal challenges that made their way to the Supreme Court, which ultimately sided with the Trump administration.
For Ukraine and Sudan, as El Salvador, which also saw its status lapse into a six-month extension in September, the same framing was not used to seek to end TPS.
Ukraine is still at war with Russia, and the U.S. is still actively involved in negotiations to seek to end the conflict. Millions of Ukrainians were displaced following the outbreak of the war, with around 101,000 heading to the U.S. and benefiting from TPS.
In their September letter, Murkowski and Collins said human rights abuses and widespread destruction of TPS holders' home communities was still apparent, writing, "sending Ukrainians back now would risk returning them to life threatening conditions."
Sudan is still in the midst of a humanitarian crisis and a civil war which has been underway since April 2023. The conflict has displaced millions of people, devastated infrastructure, and triggered what the United Nations described as one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. Around 1,700 Sudanese are estimated to be in the U.S. with TPS.
"The appropriate time to act was weeks ago. Families who depend on this status to stay safe and keep working deserve a formal decision in writing, not a weekend statement to press," Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Global Refuge, said in a press release Monday. "Keeping protections in place is the right call, but a promise to a reporter is not a policy."
What Happens Next
Both countries should keep hold of their TPS designations for another six months, with DHS required to make a decision at least 60 days before the default expiration date in April.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here. Contact Newsweek editors for this story: Anthony Murray and Samantha Beech.