Temporary Protected Status (TPS)
5 Things to Know

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) offers work authorization and deportation protections for individuals in the U.S. who cannot safely return to their home countries. TPS is a critical program that provides many immigrants an opportunity to remain in the U.S. and work while conditions in their home countries remain unsafe for them to return. TPS also benefits the United States, providing important protections to families throughout communities and driving important contributions to the U.S. economy and workforce.

The Biden Administration has taken steps to extend TPS protections for immigrants from certain countries devastated by natural disaster and war. However, many more individuals currently in the U.S. need protections from deportation to countries where their lives would be at risk, and the Administration must continue to use this important authority to protect immigrants living in the U.S. today.

Here are five key things you need to know about TPS today:

Most TPS holders have been living, working, and contributing to the U.S. economy for many years

FWD.us analysis shows that many TPS holders have been in the United States for a very long time, having set down roots, pursuing careers, building families, and integrating into American communities and society; in fact, TPS holders from El Salvador and Honduras, who make up a significant share of the current TPS population, have lived in the U.S. for an average of 28 years.

Many TPS recipients are deeply ingrained into American families and communities. For instance, FWD.us estimates that more than 900,000 U.S. citizens live in households with at least one current TPS-eligible person, including more than 400,000 U.S. citizen children.

Most TPS-eligible individuals have labor force participation rates over 80%. They hold more than 380,000 jobs in industries plagued by persistent labor shortages. TPS-eligible individuals
annually contribute some $31 billion in wages to the national GDP. And while many live in states with very large immigrant populations like Florida, Texas, California, and New York, several other states–New Jersey, Georgia, Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina–are each home to thousands of TPS holders.

Because TPS holders have established such deep roots, abruptly forcing them out of the workforce and country would impose harmful economic consequences on the U.S. as well. Researchers estimate that ending TPS for El Salvador, Honduras, and Haiti alone would result in a $45.2 billion reduction in GDP over a decade and cost employers nearly $1 billion in turnover costs. Deporting individuals who were previously protected would cost American taxpayers $3.1 billion.

3| TPS has strict eligibility requirements including limited registration windows, cutoff dates, and background and security checks

TPS is a narrow set of temporary protections available only to a limited population, a far cry from any sort of sweeping “amnesty.” These protections are not granted automatically; the application process requires eligible individuals to apply, pay a fee, and undergo a background check.

Only people who have been continuously present in the United States since the date of designation (or re-designation) and who timely register with the government are eligible. Anyone who arrives after the date of designation cannot enroll, precluding any sort of incentive for further immigration. In addition, in order to avail oneself of a country’s temporary extension, current TPS holders must re-register with the government and again pay a significant filing fee for work authorization.

TPS holders cannot confer their TPS immigration status to family members abroad nor use their TPS as a basis for sponsorship, regardless of the crises they may face, and they cannot access most federal public benefits.

5| Most TPS holders do not have a pathway to permanent legal status, but Congress could change that

While the protections are intended to be temporary, conditions in many TPS countries have not yet improved enough to allow these individuals to return home, and the TPS holders have to stay in the U.S. continually to maintain protections. If the designations are terminated, most will not have any pathway to legal status in the country they have come to call home, and will face having to return or being put into deportation proceedings, separated from their jobs, their homes, and their U.S. citizen children. After two decades of working hard and following the rules, they deserve an opportunity to stay.

Congress must establish a legislative pathway for these long-standing residents to adjust to a permanent legal status and pursue citizenship. Such a pathway for TPS holders who have lived here for a long time would have been possible under the bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill passed by the Senate in 2013. More recently, the House of Representatives passed the American Dream and Promise Act (H.R. 6) with strong bipartisan support in the 117th Congress, and a pathway for TPS holders was included in the President’s proposed U.S. Citizenship Act (S. 348). Today, the stakes are even higher, and the need for Congress to act is more urgent than ever.