DHS to maintain TPS status for immigrants from Ukraine and Sudan
WASHINGTON:- The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will maintain Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for immigrants from Ukraine and Sudan currently residing in the United States. With this status remaining in effect, immigrants from Ukraine and Sudan will be able to live and work in the U.S. for the time being, without the fear of deportation.
The TPS protection for tens of thousands of Ukrainians and hundreds of Sudanese immigrants was officially set to expire on Monday.
However, in a statement on Sunday, the DHS said that final decisions regarding the fate of these humanitarian immigration programs “will be made in due course.”
Until such decisions are announced, the DHS added, citizens of Ukraine and Sudan enrolled in the TPS program “will retain their protection.”
Decisions to maintain deportation protections—even if not definitive—run counter to the Trump administration’s broader approach toward TPS programs.
Trump administration officials have frequently denounced TPS as a de facto amnesty policy—one that the Biden administration has allegedly misused to encourage illegal immigration, and which has been extended multiple times despite its ostensibly temporary nature.
Over the past year and a half, as part of its aggressive immigration agenda, the Trump administration has revoked the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) of more than one million immigrants from over a dozen countries, including Afghanistan, Haiti, and Venezuela.
The programs for Ukrainian and Sudanese nationals are among the few ‘Temporary Protected Status’ (TPS) policies that remain in effect, even nearly two years into President Trump’s second term. This also includes the protection granted to thousands of immigrants from El Salvador. Their TPS program was also set to expire last month, but the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has extended their protection pending a final announcement.
Under the TPS policy, established by Congress in 1990, the U.S. government can grant temporary protection from deportation and work authorization to immigrants—regardless of whether they arrived legally or illegally—from countries facing armed conflict, environmental disasters, or other crises. In such situations, returning to their home countries is considered unsafe for them.
The TPS policy for Ukrainians was first announced by the Biden administration in the spring of 2022; this occurred shortly after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. By March 2025, more than 100,000 Ukrainians had registered for TPS. This figure also includes individuals who entered the United States under the ‘sponsorship policy’ implemented during the Biden administration.
The TPS program for Sudan has been in existence since the late 1990s. Due to the armed conflict and political instability in the African nation of Sudan, successive U.S. administrations have maintained this policy. As of March 2025, approximately 1,800 Sudanese nationals are residing in the United States under TPS.
