crs_reports: R49363

Congressional Research Service reports with summaries, authors, and topic classifications.

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R49363 Temporary Protected Status: History and Issues for Congress 2026-09-28T04:00:00Z 2026-09-30T14:38:33Z Active Reports Jill H. Wilson Asylees, Refugees & Other Humanitarian Concerns, Immigration Enforcement & Removal, Permanent Immigration, Temporary Immigration, Asylum, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) The United States has long offered protection to foreign nationals who face jeopardy in their home countries. Various mechanisms have been incorporated into U.S. immigration law over the years to grant humanitarian protection. Asylum is a form of humanitarian protection available to foreign nationals who are physically present in the United States and who meet the definition of refugee—that is, someone typically outside his or her country of nationality who is unable or unwilling to return to that country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution. Congress created temporary protected status (TPS) in 1990 to fill what it considered a gap in statutory protection for those in the United States who lacked the individualized finding of persecution necessary to qualify for asylum but whose home countries were experiencing armed conflict, natural disaster, or other extraordinary circumstances that prevented their safe return. The TPS statute gives the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) the authority to designate countries for TPS for periods of six to 18 months and the authority to extend such designations if conditions continue to be met. Foreign nationals present in the United States from designated countries at the time of the designation may apply for TPS. Those granted TPS are eligible for employment authorization, cannot be detained on the basis of their immigration status, and are not subject to removal from the United States while they retain TPS. At the beginning of the second Trump Administration, the number of designated countries (17) and the number of individuals covered by TPS (approximately 1.4 million) were at all-time highs. Since then, the Trump Administration has terminated TPS designations for 13 of the 17 countries and reduced the number of individuals covered by TPS to approximately 274,000. Throughout the history of the program, approximately 1.7 million people from 28 countries have been granted TPS. Some countries’ designations have lasted as little as one year; others have had their designations extended for decades. The average length of TPS designations since 1990 is approximately nine years. More than three quarters of TPS recipients (89%) have been nationals of countries in Latin America or the Caribbean, with Venezuela, El Salvador, and Haiti together accounting for 83% of all TPS recipients over the history of the program. The TPS program and its implementation over the years have raised questions about whether and how it should be reformed. For example: Is TPS serving its intended purpose? Should there be a time limit on TPS designations? Should TPS beneficiaries have a pathway to permanent status? Do TPS designations encourage illegal immigration? Has the executive branch designated the appropriate countries for TPS? What TPS reforms have been proposed? If Congress chooses to take action on TPS, it might consider the various policy questions and proposals described in this report. https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/R/PDF/R49363/R49363.2.pdf https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/R/HTML/R49363.html

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