US grants deportation reprieve to Ukrainians and Sudanese
The US Department of Homeland Security says more than 100,000 Ukrainians and Sudanese keep their right to stay, though their temporary protected status was due to end on Monday. No deadline for a final decision was given.
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has said that more than 100,000 people from Ukraine and Sudan can remain in the United States without immediate risk of deportation. Their temporary protected status (TPS) was due to end on Monday, but the department has in effect extended it for an unspecified period. TPS is a programme that lets people from countries affected by armed conflict or other crises live in the US and, generally, work there.
The status was set to expire for about 101,000 Ukrainians and 1,800 Sudanese. In a written statement, DHS said an announcement would be made "at the appropriate time" and that until then those covered "retain protection". The department did not say how long they could stay or when a final decision would come. It did not answer whether work permits remain valid, although TPS generally allows people to work while protections are in force.
Reactions
Yuriy Boyechko, CEO of Hope For Ukraine, a non-profit that provides humanitarian aid in Ukraine and helps resettle newcomers in the US, called the announcement "last-minute patches". He argued the US should create a normal path to permanent residency and said these people cannot safely return to Ukraine.
Andrew Arthur of the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington thinktank that favours lower immigration, said the government faces no deadline and nothing changes until it decides. He noted that both Ukraine and Sudan are experiencing ongoing armed conflict, so the secretary is within his authority to continue TPS.
Earlier practice
The Trump administration has already ended TPS for more than 1 million people from 13 countries, including Venezuela, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Afghanistan and Syria. About a month ago, however, it kept protections for nearly 200,000 Salvadorians whose status was to expire on 9 September, also promising a decision at the appropriate time.
Ukraine was first designated for TPS in April 2022, two months after Russia's full-scale invasion. The Biden administration extended it, most recently in January 2025, through October 2026. Sudan's programme dates from 1997. The decision comes two weeks before the US midterm elections.
