Salvadoran immigrants in the United States with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) will continue to have protections for now, despite their status having been set to expire Wednesday, the Trump administration said. In a statement to Newsweek, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that El Salvador's TPS designation would not lapse yet, despite the original deadline and the ongoing efforts to end the status for other countries in recent months. "Until such announcement is made, Salvadoran individuals present in the U.S. under TPS retain protection.” Under the Trump administration, the U.S. has forged stronger ties with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, including striking a deal to send deportees from Venezuela and elsewhere to El Salvador's high-security CECOT prison.
Newsweek reached out to the Salvadoran government for comment via email. After President Donald Trump returned to the White House, DHS began efforts to end TPS for most countries that had benefited from the program in recent decades, including Venezuela, Haiti, and Afghanistan. TPS allows immigrants from select countries in the U.S. without legal status to apply for protections from deportation, including permission to work legally.
For some, DHS has renewed the status multiple times, deciding whether to extend it every 18 months. The current administration argues the program has been abused and that conditions which originally sparked TPS for different countries, including conflicts and environmental disasters, have improved enough that hundreds of thousands of immigrants can return to their home countries. Efforts to end the statuses drew legal challenges which made their way to the U.S.
Justices sided with the administration in June, paving the way for all injunctions against DHS' efforts to be lifted. El Salvador appeared to be next on the list, with the status set to expire September 9, 2026. Ahead of the deadline, Rebecca Shi, CEO of American Business Immigration Coalition Action (ABIC Action), said in a statement shared with Newsweek, “For more than 25 years, Salvadoran TPS holders have worked legally in this country, paid taxes, raised families, bought homes and helped keep American businesses and essential industries running.
"Now, 152,000 workers are at risk of being forced out of the U.S. workforce," Shi said. "These are experienced, vetted workers who are already deeply rooted in our economy, contributing $5.4 billion annually and paying $1.5 billion in federal, state and local taxes. Forcing them off the job destabilizes American businesses and spike prices for all." This is a breaking news story.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Gabe Whisnant and Sam Wilson.
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