MIAMI (AP) — More than 100,000 people from Ukraine and Sudan can stay in the United States without immediate risk of deportation, the Department of Homeland Security said, amounting to a temporary reprieve after their right to remain in the country expired Monday.
Temporary protection status was due to end on October 19 for around 101,000 Ukrainians and 1,800 Sudanese. But DHS said an announcement “will be made at the appropriate time.” Until then, the department said in a written statement, Ukrainians and Sudanese in the United States covered by these temporary measures “retain their protection.” The ministry did not say how long they might stay or when a final announcement would be made on their status.
DHS did not answer a question about whether they could keep their work permits, but TPS generally allows people to work as long as their protections remain in effect.
Monday’s decision marks another incident in which the Trump administration, which had previously sought to end these temporary deportation protections and return people to their home countries, allowed people covered by temporary status to remain in the country, but without giving any indication of how long.
Yuriy Boyechko, CEO of Hope For Ukraine, a nonprofit that provides humanitarian aid in Ukraine and helps resettle newcomers in the United States, called the government’s announcement “last-minute fixes.”
It’s a “band-aid on a wound that doesn’t address the real problem,” he said. “It’s time for the United States to find a normal path to permanent residency for all these people,” Boyechko noted. He stressed that they could not return to Ukraine safely.
The context of decisions to maintain protections
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The Trump administration has already ended TPS for more than 1 million people from 13 countries, including Venezuela, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Afghanistan and Syria.
But in a change in practice about a month ago, the administration maintained protections for nearly 200,000 Salvadorans whose TPS was set to expire on September 9. In this case, they also said that they would make a decision at the appropriate time and that in the meantime Salvadorans could continue to work and live in the United States.
Activists and a bipartisan group of lawmakers have sounded the alarm that the TPS deadline for Ukrainians will soon expire, arguing that conditions remain dangerous for them to return home amid a war with Russia.
Ukraine was first designated as a TPS in April 2022, following Russia’s full-scale invasion two months earlier. The Biden administration later extended this designation, most recently in January 2025, when DHS authorized an additional 18 months of protection through October 2026.
The TPS program for Sudan was established in 1997 and since then, successive U.S. administrations have expanded it due to the armed conflict and political instability that have plagued the African country.
Monday’s decision comes two weeks before the Nov. 3 midterm elections, when Trump’s hard-line immigration policies will be tested at the ballot box.
The TPS program has provided protections for decades but is controversial
The U.S. Congress created TPS in 1990 to prevent deportations to countries hit by natural disasters or civil unrest.
It allows people already in the country to stay and work, for renewable periods if the Secretary of Homeland Security determines that conditions are not safe for their return. But that doesn’t open the door to permanent residency.
Supporters say using the tool protects people from being sent back to dangerous situations and that uprooting people covered by TPS after years of living in the United States is cruel. Critics, particularly within the Trump administration, say successive administrations have extended these protections for years, regardless of what happened in the countries of origin.
Federal rules state that TPS is automatically extended for six months if the Secretary does not make a decision at least 60 days before the designation expires.
Advocates grateful for DHS decision, warn against war
“We are grateful for an extension, even if temporary, for TPS holders from Ukraine and Sudan,” said Myal Greene, president and CEO of World Relief, an organization that has provided humanitarian aid in both countries. “We encourage the Administration and Congress to consider longer-term assistance for women, men and children trying to achieve stability while their home countries remain in turmoil.”
Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Global Refuge, stressed that Ukraine and Sudan are not safe and do not meet the legal conditions for TPS extension.
“Russia’s war against Ukraine is approaching its fifth year, and Ukrainians are bracing for another winter of drone and missile strikes, causing civilian casualties and devastating critical infrastructure. Sudan remains locked in a brutal civil war marked by famine, widespread human rights violations and the hallmarks of genocide,” Vignarajah said. “It is not safe for these families to return home.”
Associated Press reporter Rebecca Santana contributed from Washington.
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