Biden extends temporary protection to nearly 1 million immigrants

Joe Biden has extended the temporary  US visa status of around one million immigrants, mere days before Donald Trump takes office.Friday’s announcement pertains to individuals from four specific countries: El Salvador, Sudan, Venezuela and Ukraine. Homeland Security announced the 18-month extension will apply to 600,000 Venezuelans, 230,000 Salvadorans, and 103,000 Ukrainians living in the US.But the extension only applies to individuals already protected under the programme, falling short of calls by immigration advocates to broaden eligibility.They must, however, re-register for the programme to take advantage of the 18-month extension.
In each case, the designation of “temporary protected status” (TPS) has been extended for 18 months, based on continuing threats from war, humanitarian crises and natural disasters.For weeks, Biden administration officials have been privately weighing whether to take a swath of final actions to protect immigrants before Trump’s return to Washington. Since his November victory, Democratic lawmakers and immigration advocates have been pressuring the White House, holding press conferences and sending letters to the administration.
Biden’s moves on Friday still fell short of the demands from advocates and some Democratic allies. The president did not increase the number of immigrants eligible for TPS, ignoring advocates’ pleas for another layer of protection against Trump’s deportation plans. The Biden administration also didn’t expand the pool of Nicaraguans eligible for TPS, nor did it extend existing TPS protections for people from this country that run through July 2025.