Hundreds of thousands of people from Haiti and thousands from Syria are facing an uncertain future after a key immigration protection in the United States expired on Monday. The move comes after the US Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for both countries, a program that had allowed many to live and work legally in the US because of dangerous conditions back home.
As a result, hundreds of thousands of people have lost the legal protection that allowed them to live and work in the United States.
The end of TPS also means many affected workers no longer have valid work permits unless they have secured another legal immigration status.
Supreme Court ruling cleared the way
The biggest turning point came on June 25, 2026, when the US Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Mullin v. Doe, a case heard together with Trump v. Miot.
In the majority opinion, Justice Samuel Alito said the Department of Homeland Security has the legal authority to end TPS designations. The court also ruled that decisions related to TPS are largely protected from judicial review under the Immigration and Nationality Act, except in certain constitutional cases.
The court also rejected claims that the decision to end Haiti’s TPS was driven by racial bias. It said the public statements cited by those challenging the policy could be interpreted as race-neutral policy views rather than evidence of discrimination.
However, the ruling did not immediately cancel TPS. Instead, the Supreme Court sent the matter back to lower federal courts so they could issue the necessary legal orders. That process took several weeks.
During that period, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) continued extending work permits for affected TPS holders instead of ending the program immediately.
TPS ended on different dates
After the lower courts completed the legal process, DHS officially ended TPS on different dates for each country.
Temporary Protected Status for Yemen ended on July 20, 2026. The protections for Haiti and Syria officially came to an end on July 27, 2026.
These dates apply only to the countries covered by the Supreme Court ruling. Cases involving other countries, including Burma, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan and Venezuela, are still being fought in court and have separate legal timelines.
Legal questions remain despite the expiry
Although the protection officially reached its expiry date on Monday, immigration lawyers say there is still confusion about whether TPS has legally ended.
Lawyers told The Washington Post that lower courts must first carry out the Supreme Court’s ruling before the Trump administration can officially terminate the program. Until that happens, there is uncertainty over when the protections will fully end.
Work permits are no longer valid
The termination has major consequences for thousands of workers and their employers.
Employment Authorisation Documents (EADs), commonly known as work permits, that were issued under TPS for Haiti, Yemen and Syria are no longer valid.
USCIS has said that Form I-766 work permits carrying category codes A12 or C19 under Haiti’s TPS designation can no longer be used as proof of legal work authorisation.
Employers are now required to complete Form I-9 reverification for affected employees. Workers who cannot provide another valid work authorisation document cannot legally continue working in the United States.
At the same time, immigration lawyers have advised employers to be careful. They warned that firing workers before their legal work authorisation officially expired could expose companies to discrimination claims, especially because the deadlines changed several times before TPS finally ended.
DHS tells TPS holders ‘it’s closing time’
The Department of Homeland Security made it clear that people cannot continue staying in the country under TPS once the program ends.
A DHS spokesperson said, “What we would say now is it’s closing time, which means you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.”
TPS itself does not provide a direct path to permanent residency or a green card. At the same time, asylum approvals have fallen sharply under the Trump administration.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has encouraged TPS holders to leave the United States and apply through other legal immigration routes if they qualify.
Syria also loses protection
Syria’s TPS designation also ended as part of the same decision.
Mullin defended the move by saying Syria had made significant progress since its civil war effectively ended with the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024.
He described Syria as a “prime example” of a country that has “come a long way.
Even after TPS ended for Haiti and Syria, legal disputes over the program are still continuing. On July 21, 2026, a federal judge in Massachusetts temporarily blocked a related DHS policy update, saying some previously extended TPS work permits should keep their original expiry dates. DHS has said it disagrees with the ruling and is working with the Department of Justice on its next steps.
The TPS terminations are part of the Trump administration’s broader effort to end protections for several countries, including Haiti, Yemen, Syria, Venezuela, Somalia and Ethiopia. Immigration experts say the Supreme Court’s June ruling has made it much harder to challenge these decisions in court.