Late Friday evening, June 6, 2025 – right after we posted TPS Twist: Court Halts DHS Action on Certain Venezuelan Work Authorization-For Now – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) updated its website with a significant clarification regarding the status of individuals who received Temporary Protected Status (TPS) under Venezuela’s
Continue Reading Venezuela TPS: USCIS Confirms Termination of 2023 Designation – But Some Work Permits Still ValidTemporary Protected Status (TPS)
TPS Twist: Court Halts DHS Action on Certain Venezuelan Work Authorization-For Now
By: Dawn Lurie, Owen Wolfe, and Alex Madrak

In a significant development for Venezuelan Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, a federal district court in California has issued an injunction preventing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from invalidating certain immigration documents—at least for now.
Background
Earlier this year…
Continue Reading TPS Twist: Court Halts DHS Action on Certain Venezuelan Work Authorization-For NowSCOTUS Unravels 2023 TPS for Venezuela: Employers Await USCIS Guidance
By: Dawn Lurie, Owen Wolfe and Alexander Madrak

In a pivotal immigration development, the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has effectively granted the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) permission to proceed with the termination of the 2023 Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for Venezuela. This decision reverses, at least for…
Continue Reading SCOTUS Unravels 2023 TPS for Venezuela: Employers Await USCIS GuidanceTermination of TPS for Afghans Effective July 14, 2025: Implications and Legal Challenge

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), under Secretary Kristi Noem, has announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Afghan nationals residing in the United States. The notice of termination, recently published in the Federal Register, and effective July 14, 2025, follows a review of conditions in Afghanistan…
Continue Reading Termination of TPS for Afghans Effective July 14, 2025: Implications and Legal ChallengeCourt Halts TPS Termination for Venezuelans: Relief (and Uncertainty) for Employers
- On March 31, 2025, Federal Judge Edward M. Chen of the Northern District of California issued a stay on the Trump administration’s revocation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans in the United States.
- The ruling allows approximately 350,000 Venezuelan nationals—who were set to lose TPS status on April
Venezuelan 2023 TPS and CHNV Parole Get the Axe—What Employers Need to Know
By: Dawn Lurie, Mia Batista, and Fanny Wong

On January 20, 2025, the Trump administration issued the Securing Our Borders executive order, citing national security, crime prevention, and the protection of American interests as justification for terminating categorical parole programs for certain Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans. Then…
Continue Reading Venezuelan 2023 TPS and CHNV Parole Get the Axe—What Employers Need to KnowParting Gifts from the Biden Administration: TPS Extensions Ukraine, Venezuela, El Salvador, and Sudan
By: Dawn Lurie, Olivia Scofield, and Isabella Cohen
This blog was updated from a Seyfarth Legal Alert published on January 16.
On January 10, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced important changes that will benefit noncitizens who have applied for or currently hold Temporary Protected…
Continue Reading Parting Gifts from the Biden Administration: TPS Extensions Ukraine, Venezuela, El Salvador, and SudanOctober 2023 U.S. Immigration Alert
By: Jake Campbell, Weija (Victoria) Ma, and Jason Burritt
Seyfarth Synopsis: The below summarizes recent legal updates that impact U.S. immigration:

1. Government Shutdown Avoided – For Now
On September 30, 2023, Congress passed a stopgap bill to keep the government running for another 45 days. For more information on potential impacts if the government were to shutdown, please see our legal alert–Potential Government Shutdown: Immigration Consequences for Employers and their Foreign Employees—here.Continue Reading October 2023 U.S. Immigration Alert
Opening the Door to Adjustment of Status with New TPS Travel Authorization Policy
By: Dawn Lurie, Leon Rodriguez, and Zachary Blas Perez
Seyfarth Synopsis: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced an important policy change that will benefit noncitizens holding Temporary Protected Status (TPS). The new policy permits USCIS to issue a new TPS travel authorization document, amending the previous mechanism required for TPS to receive foreign travel permission. This policy change is significant because noncitizens who enter on this new TPS travel authorization will now be considered as “inspected and admitted,” and accordingly may qualify for adjustment of status to lawful permanent resident (green card) status with an underlying employment-based or family-based immigrant visa petition.
On July 1, 2022, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a Policy Memorandum: Rescission of Matter of Z-R-Z-C– as an Adopted Decision; agency interpretation of authorized travel by TPS beneficiaries, announcing a new pathway for persons granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to travel outside the United States and be readmitted in a legal status that would allow them, in certain circumstances, to qualify for lawful permanent residency.
This memorandum, written in close consultation with the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of General Counsel (DHS OGC), is an attempt to better harmonize and administer decades of TPS protocols that have been at times inconsistent or infeasible for TPS holders as well as their dependents and other family members. Just last year, the Supreme Court held, in Sanchez v. Mayorkas, that while a grant of TPS could not be considered an admission, it still constituted a “kind of lawful status” which USCIS has interpreted to make the shortcomings of Matter of Z-R-Z-C- warrant a rescission. (Sanchez v. Mayorkas, 141 S. Ct. 1809 (2021)).
Created by Congress in 1990, TPS is available to eligible noncitizens present in the United States who are nationals of a foreign country that has been designated for temporary protection by the Secretary of Homeland Security.[1] These countries currently include Afghanistan, Burma (Myanmar), Cameroon, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Ukraine, Venezuela, and Yemen. All designations of countries for TPS are discretionary, and before any such designation can occur, the DHS Secretary must make a formal finding that conditions in the particular country meet one or more alternative statutory criteria, namely, the presence of ongoing armed conflicts, environmental disasters, or “extraordinary and temporary conditions.”[2]
In general, a noncitizen physically present in the United States who meets the TPS statutory criteria may be granted temporary protection regardless of one’s underlying immigration status and regardless of the lawful or unlawful manner of entry into the country.[3] Broadly, TPS provides protection from removal by DHS, carries with it the inherent right of work authorization incident to TPS status, and allows for the submission to USCIS of an application for advance permission to travel abroad and be readmitted to the US. The USCIS July 1 Policy Memorandum (discussed below) addresses the new process envisioned by the agency for granting pre-departure consent to travel abroad and be readmitted, and explains potential eligibility to qualify for adjustment of status.Continue Reading Opening the Door to Adjustment of Status with New TPS Travel Authorization Policy
Last Minute TPS Extension for South Sudan
By: Dawn M. Lurie
Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad F. Wolf extended the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for South Sudan for 18 months, from November 3, 2020 through May 2, 2022. Current beneficiaries who want to maintain their status must re-register Nov. 2, 2020, through January 4, 2021.
The announcement also stated that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) automatically extended the validity of certain Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) issued under the TPS designation for South Sudan through May 1, 2021. The information was published in the Federal Register on November 2, 2020.Continue Reading Last Minute TPS Extension for South Sudan