The Department of Homeland Security is extending temporary protection for nationals in the U.S. from El Salvador, Venezuela, Sudan and Ukraine.
Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, is available to nationals from countries where emergencies like war, natural disasters or government instability make it unsafe to return.
TPS holders can stay in the U.S. legally and get access to a work permit for as long as the 6, 12, or 18 month designation is valid. It offers no path to US citizenship.
Rights advocates have long called on the Biden administration to extend several TPS designations ahead of the incoming Trump administration, which has vowed to enact mass deportations.
Homeland Security officials cited ongoing instability in Venezuela and environmental conditions in El Salvador as factors in the re-designation.