U.S. employers were told to dismiss thousands of immigrant workers who are on the way to lose Temporary Protected Status.
On Friday the Department of Homeland Security temporarily extended work authorization for Haitians and other migrants covered by Temporary Protected Status just hours before permits were due to expire, delaying but not preventing an imminent loss of work authorization. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services notices say Haitian work permits will now expire on July 24, while status holders from Ethiopia, Myanmar, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen will lose work permits on July 17. Advocates in Pennsylvania called for Fetterman and McCormick to support TPS holders.
Employers across industries are bracing for the loss of hundreds of thousands of workers and some companies had already begun laying off employees in anticipation of the deadlines. Sectors expected to be affected include health care, hospitality, construction, manufacturing, food processing, meatpacking and grocery retail, and businesses have expressed frustration over a lack of advance guidance that complicates workforce planning.
The Supreme Court granted the administration's emergency request to pause a lower-court order that had temporarily blocked the policy, allowing the administration to move forward with ending TPS while litigation continues; the justices did not decide whether ending Temporary Protected Status is lawful.
Labor and industry groups warned of widespread consequences. Milton Jones, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, said, "The effects of this ruling will be felt by more than just those directly impacted—every worker, every community, and the entire economy will feel it." The National Restaurant Association urged Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to provide a 90- to 120-day transition period and clearer compliance guidance, and the National TPS Alliance warned the court's action "throws hundreds of thousands of people into uncertainty overnight." The underlying lawsuits challenging the administration's TPS decisions will continue in federal courts.
Temporary Protected Status is a humanitarian program created by Congress in 1990 that allows nationals of designated countries to live and work legally in the United States for a limited period but does not provide a pathway to permanent residency or U.S. citizenship. More than 1 million people have been granted TPS or related humanitarian protections over the past several decades.