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Immigration Protections Extended Ahead of New Administration

 Posted on January 22, 2025 in Immigration

IL immigration lawyerLess than a week before the new administration took office, the Department of Homeland Security, under President Biden’s orders, extended temporary deportation protections to about one million U.S. immigrants. The action was intended to bring some measure of stability to immigrant households across the nation. Those included in these protections are those who are part of a program known as Temporary Protected Status, which allows recipients to secure work permits.

Those in the program are already in the United States and are from Sudan, Ukraine, El Salvador, and Venezuela. The legal status of those in the TPS program was set to lapse in the spring but will now remain in effect for an additional 18 months – after those in the program go through the re-registration process. If you are an immigrant who is under the TPS program, or you have other immigration issues that you need legal assistance with, an experienced Lombard, IL immigration attorney can help.  

What the New TPS Orders Can – and Cannot Do

The new TPS order does not provide a path to permanent legal residency or citizenship, but it does buy immigrants currently under the program the time to seek permanent immigration avenues. The new TPS extension will not make more people eligible for TPS but will provide an extension for those already under the program. The TPS program is considered a "jumping off" point for many who will go on to marry a U.S. citizen and obtain a green card or ask an employer to sponsor them for a green card.

TPS was created by Congress in 1990 to allow foreign nationals who were already in the United States due to humanitarian crises in their own country to legally stay in the country. While TPS protections were always meant to be temporary, federal authorities continued to renew those protections to prevent them from lapsing. As a result, immigrants from several countries in Central America have had two decades of TPS eligibility.

Currently, there are 103,700 Ukrainian TPS beneficiaries – largely women and children - who can re-register under the extension order. If these people were to be sent back to Ukraine, they would be in an unsafe, perhaps even deadly situation. Environmental disasters in El Salvador make it a dangerous place to return to, and a humanitarian crisis in Venezuela is the same. It is likely that challenges to these TPS protections may come quickly. Federal regulations could allow the TPS extensions to be terminated early, making the status of everyone registered under the program immediately unlawful.

Were Eligible Immigrants Notified of the TPS Extension?

TPS beneficiaries who electronically filed Form I-765 (Application for Employment Authorization) may not have received a receipt notice, or their notice of receipt may not have provided information about the 18-month extension. Before the week of March 13, those applicants will be sent an email or text notification that instructs them to sign into their USCIS account. Once online, these people can obtain a corrected, printable receipt notice. TPS beneficiaries whose country designation is current are authorized to work, but they must present the corrected receipt when completing an Employment Eligibility Verification (Form I-9).  

Contact a DuPage County, IL Immigration Attorney

If you have immigration questions about the TPS program or have other immigration concerns or questions, you need a highly skilled Naperville, IL immigration attorney from Mevorah & Giglio Law Offices in your corner. Attorney Mevorah has been serving the needs of immigrants across Northern Illinois for more than four decades. Perhaps you are worried about deportation or need assistance with USCIS paperwork. Call 630-932-9100 to schedule your free consultation.     

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