FAS

Protected Status for Many Refugees Set to Expire

11.06.17 | 1 min read | Text by Steven Aftergood

Updated below

US law provides temporary protected status (TPS) for certain foreign nationals in the United States who are fleeing armed conflict, natural disaster or other extreme circumstances in their native country.

But many refugees who have been granted such temporary status may soon have it revoked.

“The United States currently provides TPS to approximately 437,000 foreign nationals from 10 countries,” according to a newly updated report from the Congressional Research Service. Those countries are: El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. See Temporary Protected Status: Overview and Current Issues, updated November 2, 2017.

Unless renewed, TPS for persons from Haiti, Honduras and Nicaragua will expire in January 2018. The Washington Post reported that the Department of Homeland Security is expected to announce today that the expiring protections will not be renewed.

Update: The Department of Homeland Security announced on November 6 that Temporary Protected Status for Nicaraguan refugees will be revoked effective January 5, 2019. The TPS designation for Honduras has been extended for further review until July 5, 2018.

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Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following.

El Salvador: Background and U.S. Relations, updated November 3, 2017

Clearing the Air on the Debt Limit, November 2, 2017

Public Private Partnerships (P3s) in Transportation, November 2, 2017

A Second Amendment Right to Sell Firearms? The Ninth Circuit, Sitting En Banc, Weighs In., CRS Legal Sidebar, November 2, 2017

Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress, updated November 2, 2017

The National Science Foundation: FY2018 Appropriations and Funding History, November 2, 2017