A breakdown of Trump’s TPS terminations and what they mean for New York

Since he took office in January, President Donald Trump and the Department of Homeland Security have revoked the Temporary Protected Status of immigrants from seven countries. The TPS program, which grants migrants from designated countries legal work authorization and protects them from deportation, impacts tens of thousands of New Yorkers. Congress started the program in 1990 to provide humanitarian relief for people who could not safely return to their home countries due to armed conflict, natural disasters and other extraordinary circumstances. 

As of September 2024, New York state is home to some 87,000 TPS holders, according to a report from National Immigration Forum. New York TPS holders alone earned $2.3 billion in income and paid $348.9 million in federal taxes in 2023, according to a report from the state attorney general’s office. Once TPS is revoked, migrants return to their original status, which in many cases strips them of their ability to work and leaves them vulnerable to deportation. 

As tens of thousands of migrants began to arrive in New York City starting in the spring of 2022, Mayor Eric Adams and other elected leaders called for an expansion of TPS so new arrivals would be able to work toward self-sufficiency. 

“As Mayor Adams has said repeatedly, our immigration system is broken due to decades of neglect by the federal government,” spokesperson Elizabeth Garcia said in a statement. "When the migrant crisis came to New York City, Temporary Protected Status was one of the very few tools the previous administration finally provided to us after months of advocacy from Mayor Adams that allowed us to help migrants and asylum seekers leave our shelter system and start their journeys toward working and building lives for themselves.”

Trump has not yet revoked TPS from Myanmar, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Lebanon, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine or Yemen. Here is a breakdown of the seven countries whose protected status will expire in the following months – and how that change will impact New Yorkers. 

Venezuela 

Termination date: April 7, 2025

Since the spring of 2022, the largest group of migrants entering the city has been Venezuelan. About 40% of the 113,000 migrants who arrived between 2022 and 2023 were Venezuelan, as well as 38% of those who stayed in the city’s migrant shelters. The country received its TPS designation in March 2021 due to a “humanitarian emergency” spurred by political instability and economic strife that made it unsafe for Venezuelan nationals to return. President Joe Biden renewed the protection in 2023 for 18 months, and then three days before Trump’s inauguration extended it again until October 2026. On January 29, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced DHS terminated TPS for Venezuelan migrants. That was struck down by a federal judge on April 7. On May 19, though, the Supreme Court stayed the judge’s order, allowing DHS to proceed. Noem’s order does not affect those with TPS designations from 2021, whose protection expires in September. 

Haiti

Termination date: Unclear

New York City has the second-largest Haitian immigrant population in the country. About 163,000 Haitian immigrants live in the New York City metropolitan area, primarily in Flatbush, making up roughly 3% of the city’s foreign-born population. Haiti received its TPS designation in 2010 following an earthquake that killed nearly 223,000 people and destroyed the country’s infrastructure. The city received an influx of Haitian migrants in late 2021 due to political instability that followed the Haitian president’s assasination. Noem attempted to move up the termination date of Haiti’s protected status to September 2025 – five months before the deadline in February 2026 – threatening the 5400 Haitian TPS holders in the city. On July 1, however, a federal judge in New York blocked the revocation. The Trump administration plans to appeal. 

Honduras and Nicaragua 

Termination date: September 8, 2025 

Honduras and Nicaragua first received TPS designation in 1999 following Hurricane Mitch, a Category 5 storm that ravaged Central America and killed thousands. Trump attempted to revoke TPS status for the two countries during his first term but faced legal challenges that halted the initiative. Many of these migrants have lived in the U.S. for nearly three decades but now 72,000 Hondurans and 4,000 Nicaraguans face the threat of deportation. New York has the largest Honduran TPS population in the country of about 8,000 people. 

Nepal

Termination date: August 5, 2025

Following a devastating earthquake in April 2015, the U.S. granted 15,000 Nepalese migrants TPS that June. Trump attempted to terminate their protected status during his first term, but faced legal challenges and eventually rescinded the effort. Now, the termination will affect roughly 12,700 Nepali migrants with protected status. The Nepalese population tripled in the city from 2010 to 2019 – the second largest in the country. The growing community is largely concentrated in Queens, specifically in Woodside and Jackson Heights. 

Afghanistan 

Termination date: July 14, 2025

The Biden administration first granted Afghani migrants TPS on March 16, 2022 following U.S. military withdrawal and Taliban takeover. In September 2023 DHS extended their status to May 20, 2025. As of 2022, about 7000 Afghan immigrants lived in the New York metropolitan area, according to the Migration Policy Institute. They are largely concentrated in Queens, specifically Flushing, Fresh Meadows, and Kew Gardens. 

Cameroon 

Termination date: August 4, 2025

DHS first granted Cameroonian migrants TPS in June 2022 and renewed their status in December 2023 for another 18-month period due to armed conflict throughout the country. The Trump administration determined Cameroon migrants can safely return home, but the conflict is ongoing. Although there is limited data on Cameroonian nationals in New York, about 7,900 of them lived in the U.S. in 2023.