DHS to continue Temporary Protected Status for 4 countries in response to court order

The Department of Homeland Security has announced that Temporary Protected Status beneficiaries for El Salvador, Nicaragua, Haiti and Sudan will retain their TPS designation while a lawsuit challenging the termination is pending. The announcement comes in response to a preliminary injunction issued by a federal judge that blocked DHS from implementing and enforcing its plan to terminate TPS designations for the four countries. The court ordered DHS to implement procedures to ensure that TPS remained in effect during the lawsuit.

Key points:

• TPS designation for El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Sudan will remain in effect for the duration of the preliminary injunction that was ordered Oct. 4.
• DHS is also automatically extending TPS-related Employment Authorization Documents and Form I-94 for Nicaragua and Sudan through April 2, 2019. TPS for Sudan was set to expire Nov. 2, 2018, and TPS for Nicaragua was set to expire Jan. 9, 2019.

Background: Last month, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in Ramos v. Nielsen, No. 18-cv-01554 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 3, 2018) issued a nationwide temporary injunction that blocked DHS from terminating TPS for the four countries. TPS beneficiaries from the four countries and their U.S. citizen children challenged the termination of the program as violating rulemaking procedures and constitutional protections against discrimination. DHS announced late last year and early this year that it was terminating several TPS designations, including Sudan on Nov. 2, 2018, Nicaragua on Jan. 9, 2019. Haiti on July 22, 2019, and El Salvador on Sept. 9, 2019.

BAL Analysis: At this time, TPS beneficiaries of the four countries do not need to take any action. Employers should be aware of the automatic extension of EADs for Sudanese and Nicaraguan TPS beneficiaries and of the extension of the TPS designation for El Salvador and Haiti while the lawsuit and injunction is pending. BAL will provide updates on the lawsuit and any changes to TPS designations as a result of the litigation.

This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice group. For additional information, please contact berryapplemanleiden@bal.com.

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