FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 19, 2026
Contact: Timothy Young | timothy[dot]young at globalrefuge[dot]org
WASHINGTON – Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Ukraine and Sudan reach the end of their 18-month designations today, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has published nothing in the Federal Register to extend, redesignate or terminate either one. Instead, DHS told reporters over the weekend that Ukrainian and Sudanese TPS holders will keep their deportation protections and work authorization until it announces a decision “at the appropriate time.”
“The appropriate time to act was weeks ago. Families who depend on this status to stay safe and keep working deserve a formal decision in writing, not a weekend statement to press,” said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Global Refuge. “Keeping protections in place is the right call, but a promise to a reporter is not a policy.”
The law sets a clear process and timetable. DHS was required to review both designations at least 60 days before they expired, by August 20. Under the TPS statute, when the agency misses that deadline, the designation extends automatically for six months, to April 19, 2027. DHS has not confirmed that extension, and as of this weekend, the USCIS webpages for Ukraine and Sudan still listed October 19 as the end of the designations.
The gap has immediate consequences. TPS-based work permits for both populations carry an October 19 validity date, and employers have no Federal Register notice or updated guidance to rely on when verifying a worker’s eligibility.
“The practical consequence of the administration’s indecisiveness is that people are likely going to lose their jobs through no fault of their own,” Vignarajah said. “An employer looking at a work permit that expires today has nothing official telling them it’s still valid. The cautious choice is to let that worker go, and the cost falls on families who have done everything right.”
This is the second time in six weeks a TPS designation has reached its end date without a decision. When TPS for El Salvador expired on September 9, DHS published no notice. It posted a two-sentence USCIS alert saying protections would continue until an announcement “at the appropriate time.” Six weeks later, Salvadoran TPS holders are still waiting.
More than 100,000 Ukrainians and more than 1,700 Sudanese rely on TPS for legal status, work authorization, or both.
“Russia’s war on Ukraine is nearing its fifth year, and Ukrainians are bracing for another winter under drone and missile strikes, driving civilian casualties and devastating critical infrastructure. Sudan remains locked in a brutal civil war marked by famine, widespread human rights abuses and the hallmarks of genocide,” Vignarajah said. “It is not safe for these families to go home. Congress created Temporary Protected Status for exactly these crises, and Ukraine and Sudan meet the legal standard twice over.”
In September, 31 Senators urged DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to extend TPS for Ukraine for 18 months. Global Refuge calls on DHS to publish formal notices extending and redesignating TPS for both Ukraine and Sudan without further delay. The organization also urges Congress to pass the bipartisan legislation introduced in both chambers to protect Ukrainian TPS holders.
###
