President Joe Biden’s border chief, Alejandro Mayorkas, has granted an 18-month extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to 850,000 migrants, allowing them to stay in the United States until 2026. The move, announced by Mayorkas before leaving office, includes both illegal and quasi-legal economic migrants. Critics argue that the policy suppresses wages for American workers and drives up housing costs.
Who Benefits?
Among the beneficiaries are 234,000 migrants from El Salvador, who initially received TPS after a 2001 earthquake devastated their country’s economy. Although El Salvador’s economy has improved under President Nayib Bukele’s efforts to curb gang violence, Mayorkas cited continued adverse weather conditions as the reason for the extension:
“El Salvador’s extension of TPS is based on geological and weather events, including significant storms and heavy rainfall in 2023 and 2024, that continue to affect areas heavily impacted by the earthquakes in 2001.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is also automatically extending work permits for these individuals through March 9, 2026.
Additionally, 600,000 Venezuelan migrants will benefit from the TPS extension. According to Mayorkas, this decision stems from the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela caused by the political and economic turmoil under Nicolás Maduro’s regime:
“These conditions have contributed to high levels of crime and violence, impacting access to food, medicine, healthcare, water, electricity, and fuel.”
This decision benefits Venezuela’s dictatorship by enabling up to 600,000 potential opposition members to remain in the U.S., earning wages instead of protesting Maduro’s regime. The U.S. also allows migrants to send money home, indirectly funding the regime’s security forces and suppressing pro-democracy movements.
A Shift in U.S. Policy
Critics argue that the Biden administration’s approach marks a significant departure from past U.S. efforts to promote democracy in South America. Instead of fostering stability abroad, they say, the government is prioritizing the extraction of wage-cutting labor for domestic industries.
Since Mayorkas took office, the number of migrants with TPS has tripled to over one million, including many Haitian migrants resettled in places like Springfield, Ohio. The new TPS policy also extends protections to migrants from Ukraine and Sudan.
Economic and Political Impacts
Business and advocacy groups welcomed the amnesty, highlighting the economic contributions of migrants. FWD.us, a business-backed lobby group for expanded migration, praised the decision:
“Hundreds of thousands of individuals can continue to be protected so they can live safely in the U.S., contributing to their communities, supporting their families, and strengthening the [U.S.] economy.”
Similarly, Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, applauded the decision:
“This decision provides relief and stability to hundreds of thousands of individuals who cannot safely return to their home countries due to ongoing environmental and political crises.”
Criticism and Future Challenges
However, opponents, including immigration restrictionists, have criticized Mayorkas’s reasoning as insufficient. Mark Krikorian, director of the Center for Immigration Studies, dismissed the justification of weather-related challenges in El Salvador as “pathetic”:
“When they renewed Honduran TPS [in a prior year], one of the rationales was the coffee plants had a blight, it was ‘Coffee Rust’ on the leaves, and that was the reason to not make people go back to Honduras.”
Krikorian also noted that the El Salvador TPS extension could prove politically advantageous for the next administration. If Donald Trump returns to office, his administration would have until September 2026 to decide whether to renew or end the amnesty, giving them time to prepare their policy response.
Similarly, the extension for Venezuelan migrants buys time for a potential Trump administration to address how to handle the large population admitted under Biden.
The Path Forward
As Mayorkas exits his role, his policies continue to stir debate over their long-term implications for the U.S. economy, migration policy, and international relations. While advocates see the TPS extensions as a necessary humanitarian response, critics warn that such policies may encourage further migration and strain resources in American communities.
The debate underscores the complex balance between addressing humanitarian crises abroad and protecting domestic interests at home. Whether these extensions mark progress or misstep will depend on how future administrations navigate the challenges of migration policy.
