The Supreme Court arguments Wednesday centered on Temporary Protected Status protections for Haitians and Syrians, but the stakes reached well beyond those countries as families across the U.S. with TPS for other nations prepared for what a ruling could mean. The court weighed whether the Trump administration properly considered conditions in Haiti and Syria when it ended TPS and whether the action “prejudiced non-white immigrants,” according to the Associated Press reporting that described the focus of the case.
TPS, created by Congress in 1990, exists to prevent deportations to countries facing natural disasters or civil strife. Under the program, people who already are in the United States can stay and work while the Homeland Security secretary determines that conditions for return are unsafe, typically in increments of up to 18 months.
For Salvadorans, the decision is closely tied to their own renewal deadline. The AP reported that an estimated 200,000 people from El Salvador are watching, with TPS renewals for the country slated to be up for decision on Sept. 9. In that context, court proceedings on whether the administration handled the Haiti and Syria terminations correctly could affect expectations for what may come next for other TPS populations.
The AP described the broader backdrop of TPS as tightly linked to the Trump administration’s approach to immigration and to how it has ended protections for large groups. It said Trump ended TPS for about 1 million people from countries including Venezuela, Honduras, Nicaragua and Afghanistan, and that Kristi Noem, Trump’s former secretary, ended TPS for all 12 countries that came up for renewal under her watch.
El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, has also been a point of interest in the reporting because he is described as an ally of the United States and part of a group of 17 countries that were designated with TPS when Trump took office. The AP said the TPS universe for those countries covered 1.3 million people when Trump took office and that the number more than doubled during the Biden administration, making the question of renewal part of a larger, shifting legal and political picture.
In Boston, José Urías described what TPS has meant for his family and work over many years in the United States. The AP reported that Urías has been in the U.S. since crossing the border from Mexico in 1994 and that he built a construction business about 18 years ago after working jobs such as delivering furniture, washing dishes and cooking in restaurants. He has a family life anchored in the U.S., including two American children and an expanded family network, and he said the uncertainty threatens the stability of what he has built.
“It’s not guaranteed, but it’s not impossible either,” Urías said in an interview from his home in Boston, framing the renewal question as hopeful but not assured. The AP reported that Salvadorans with TPS have been living and working legally in the United States since at least 2001, when major earthquakes in El Salvador resulted in special status, and that many have children born in the U.S.
José Palma, a Salvadoran TPS holder who the AP described as national coordinator at the National TPS Alliance, said the situation is not something families can safely treat as settled. “We cannot rely solely on friendly relations,” Palma said, adding, “Nothing can be guaranteed with this administration in the United States at this moment,” according to the AP report.
The AP also described a more personal risk profile for some families depending on the status of relatives. Lorena Zepeda, 58, is described as an organizer at the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN) who has sent money to sisters in El Salvador for more than three decades, and the report said she is the only person in her family who does not have permanent legal status. She said her asylum application was denied and she has a deportation order from 1999, and that if TPS ends she would be at risk of deportation while her children do not want to move to El Salvador.
A Trump second-term immigration approach and the administration’s recent moves on TPS have amplified the urgency for advocates and affected families. The AP reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited El Salvador and secured a deal with Bukele for El Salvador to accept deportees of any nationality, and it said that shortly afterward the U.S. sent hundreds of Venezuelans to a prison in El Salvador. It also noted that in 2022 Bukele ordered mass arrests and later that April 2025 the U.S. State Department upgraded El Salvador’s travel advisory to its highest level, citing a drop in violent crimes and murders.
In Washington, Rebecca Bill-Chavez of the Inter-American Dialogue said she does not see a clear guarantee that friendly ties will translate into TPS renewal. “I don’t think that the fact that Bukele has really delivered on Trump’s priorities necessarily means that Trump will respond to TPS extension requests,” Bill-Chavez said, according to the AP report. She added, “I don’t think there is any guarantee.”
Zepeda, describing her own situation and what it means for her family, said in Spanish: “I feel quite sad.” She said, “Sadly, we know that I am not protected, but I have faith in God.”