DHS Says Ukrainian and Sudanese TPS Holders Keep Their Protection Past Monday, but Issues Nothing Employers Can File

The Department of Homeland Security said Sunday that Ukrainians and Sudanese enrolled in Temporary Protected Status keep their protection from deportation and their permission to work after Monday, Oct. 19, the date both designations were set to expire. The assurance came in a statement to CBS News, not in the Federal Register, so the roughly 105,600 people DHS counted as eligible to re-register in January 2025 now have the government’s word on their status but no new document that proves it.

DHS told CBS that final decisions on the two programs “will be made at the appropriate time” and that, until then, enrolled nationals “retain protection.” It is the same holding pattern DHS adopted for El Salvador after that designation’s Sept. 9 end date, and CBS reported those protections remain in place pending a final announcement. The January 2025 extension notices counted about 103,700 Ukrainian beneficiaries and about 1,900 Sudanese.

The statute already answers the question DHS left open

The statement tells these TPS holders they do not fall out of status on Tuesday, but not for how long. As Immigration Analytics reported earlier Sunday, the TPS statute required a review at least 60 days before the end date, which meant by Aug. 20. Under INA 244(b)(3)(C), when the government does not determine that a country no longer meets the conditions for designation, the designation “is extended for an additional period of 6 months.” No termination appeared in the Federal Register, so on the statute’s plain terms both designations now run to April 19, 2027.

DHS did not cite that provision or name that date, and its talk of “final decisions” suggests a termination remains possible. But a termination cannot take effect until 60 days after its notice is published or the end of the most recent extension, whichever is later. If the six-month extension applies, no Ukrainian or Sudanese TPS holder could lose status through termination before April 19, 2027.

Where the gap will show up first: Form I-9

The people most exposed this week are workers facing I-9 reverification. The last automatic extension of Ukrainian TPS work permits, from the January 2025 notice, ran only through April 19, 2026, and permits issued on re-registration expire Oct. 19, 2026. When this article was written, the USCIS page for Ukraine TPS still listed Oct. 19 as the end of the designation. A Federal Register notice normally tells employers which cards remain valid and through what date. A statement to a news outlet does neither, and cannot go in an I-9 file.

Employers face legal risk on both sides: federal law penalizes knowingly employing someone without work authorization, and separately bars demanding more or different documents than the I-9 rules require. The likely result is uneven treatment, with some employers keeping TPS workers on the strength of the statute and DHS’s statement and others suspending them until paperwork arrives. An E-Verify bulletin or USCIS alert naming a new date would be the first document employers could rely on, and the El Salvador experience suggests it may be slow to come.

For three countries now, DHS has neither extended nor terminated on the record. That keeps the department’s options open while leaving the people covered to prove their status with documents that say otherwise.

This article is for general information and is not legal advice.

Sources

Vasanth Vaidyanathan, Esq.

Administrator

Vasanth Vaidyanathan is an immigration attorney with over 20 years of experience focused exclusively on U.S. immigration and nationality law. He holds a LL.M. from California Western School of Law, San Deigo and advises individuals and businesses on employment and family-based immigration matters, including H-1B, PERM, EB categories, and adjustment of status. He has also been a featured speaker at immigration seminars across the U.S. To reach Vasanth visit: https://www.vnathan.com/

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