President Joe Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has recently decided to extend and redesignate a “temporary” amnesty for 4,000 Yemeni nationals residing in the United States. This move ensures that these individuals will not face deportation and can continue to work in American jobs.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas made the announcement on Monday, confirming the extension and redesignation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for the Yemeni nationals currently in the United States. This decision allows them to stay in the country and maintain their employment until March 2026, provided they can prove that they were present in the U.S. as of early July this year.
“The steps the Department of Homeland Security has taken today will allow certain Yemenis currently residing in the United States to remain and work here until conditions in their home country improve,” Mayorkas said in a statement. In addition, Mayorkas announced so-called “Special Student Relief” for Yemeni nationals , which will allow them to “request employment authorization, work an increased number of hours while school is in session, and reduce their course load while continuing to maintain F-1 status through the TPS designation period.”
Yemen was granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in 2015 by the Obama administration, with the most recent extension occurring in 2021 under the Biden administration. TPS was established in the Immigration Act of 1990 to provide protection for individuals from countries facing severe conditions such as famine, war, or natural disasters.
Over the years, TPS has evolved into a quasi-amnesty program, with administrations from Clinton to Biden consistently renewing the program for various nations. Currently, close to 900,000 foreign nationals in the U.S. benefit from TPS, with the majority hailing from Venezuela, Haiti, El Salvador, Honduras, and Ukraine.
