With fewer than ten days remaining before one of the most consequential immigration deadlines in recent memory, the end of Temporary Protected Status for El Salvador is now all but certain.
The TPS designation of El Salvador and related benefits are set to terminate on September 9, 2026
, according to an official update published by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on August 12.
The termination will end protections for more than 170,000 people who have lived in the United States for a quarter of a century.
The September 9 deadline marks the conclusion of one of the longest-running TPS designations in American immigration history — and the consequences will reverberate across families, employers, and communities nationwide.
A 25-Year Protection Comes to an End
El Salvador's TPS designation has been in place since 2001
, when the country was originally designated following a series of devastating earthquakes. Over the ensuing decades, the designation was extended repeatedly by administrations of both parties.
The Biden administration extended it for 18 months on January 17, 2025, just days before leaving office, citing continued environmental conditions from earthquakes and severe weather events.
That extension set the current September 9, 2026 expiration date.
The current administration, under DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, declined to renew the designation.
The path to termination was cleared by a pivotal Supreme Court decision.
On June 25, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Mullin v. Doe and Trump v. Miot that the federal government can terminate TPS for Haitian and Syrian nationals.
In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court reversed the district courts' orders
, with
the majority opinion authored by Justice Alito, joined in full by Chief Justice Roberts, Justice Thomas, and Justice Kavanaugh, and joined in part by Justice Gorsuch and Justice Barrett.
Critically,
the ruling essentially establishes that TPS terminations are largely unreviewable by the courts, meaning that, even if the administration does not fully and accurately evaluate country conditions before terminating protections, there is very little legal recourse to challenge those decisions.
For Salvadoran TPS holders, Mullin effectively eliminated the primary legal mechanism that had been used to block or delay prior TPS terminations through litigation.
What USCIS Is Doing Now
In its August 12 guidance,
USCIS is sending notices to El Salvador TPS recipients who continue to be eligible for TPS but haven't received renewal EADs with category codes A-12 or C-19 and whose TPS-based EAD application is still pending, informing them that their expired TPS-based EADs are extended until September 9, 2026.
USCIS will send the notices by mail and electronically to those who have a myUSCIS account.
This automatic extension is procedural, not substantive — it ensures that affected TPS holders can continue to demonstrate work authorization to their employers through the final day of the designation.
Absent further litigation or a new designation, work authorization for El Salvador TPS holders lapses on that date.
The Human and Economic Stakes
The scale of this termination is staggering.
Some 152,000 Salvadoran TPS holders are in the U.S. workforce, contributing an estimated $5.4 billion to the U.S. economy each year, and annually pay $1.5 billion in combined federal, state, and local taxes.
These individuals are deeply embedded in critical sectors of the American economy, including construction, transportation, manufacturing, and food services.
Nearly 90 percent of Salvadoran TPS holders participate in the labor force, and they support hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizen children.
Immigrant advocacy organizations warn that the loss of protections could affect not only workers, but also thousands of mixed-status families who have spent more than 25 years building their lives in the United States.
The losses of protection and work authorization have already cost the U.S. economy more than $22 billion in economic contributions and $6 billion in federal, state, and local tax contributions
across all TPS terminations to date, according to Fwd.us.
Congressional Push Falls Short
Congressman Tom Suozzi (NY-03) sent two letters to Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, urging the administration to extend the TPS designation for El Salvador.
Secretary Mullin responded on July 2, 2026, with an explanation of alternative pathways TPS beneficiaries can pursue to stay in the United States.
However,
in a follow-up letter on July 3, 2026, Congressman Suozzi reiterated why those pathways the Secretary suggested are not viable for most Salvadoran TPS holders and warned that terminating the designation could tear apart families and deport people who have been in this country legally for a generation.
The fundamental problem is structural.
Many Salvadoran TPS holders perform work classified as "unskilled," and there is a very limited number of employment-based immigrant visas available for unskilled workers with years-long wait times. Further, a TPS holder who loses their status is not eligible to adjust their status to obtain an employment-based immigrant visa.
Salvadorans are also unlikely to qualify for asylum.
What Happens After September 9
Once TPS protection ends, a TPS holder will revert back to his or her previous immigration status. For those without legal status in the U.S., they will return to an undocumented status and potentially be subject to removal proceedings.
This is the reality facing the overwhelming majority of Salvadoran TPS holders, who entered the United States before 2001 and have had no independent immigration status apart from TPS.
The broader implications extend well beyond El Salvador.
The Supreme Court's ruling impacts not only Syrian and Haitian TPS holders but all 1.3 million individuals from 17 countries designated for TPS.
TPS for Ukraine is also set to terminate on October 19, 2026
, signaling that additional communities will face similar deadlines in the months ahead.
Practical Steps for Affected Individuals
For Salvadoran TPS holders, the immediate priority is understanding the options — however limited — that remain:
- Consult an immigration attorney immediately. With days left before the termination date, individuals should seek qualified legal counsel to assess whether any alternative immigration pathways may be available, including family-based petitions filed by U.S. citizen children who are 21 or older.
- Retain all USCIS notices and documentation. The EAD extension notices being sent by USCIS should be preserved as part of a complete immigration record.
- Understand employer obligations. Employers will be required to reverify work authorization for any employee whose TPS-based EAD expires on September 9. Workers should be prepared for this process.
- Monitor for litigation developments. While Mullin v. Doe significantly narrowed the path to judicial relief, new legal challenges or legislative action could still alter the timeline.
Looking Ahead
The termination of El Salvador's TPS designation represents a defining moment for U.S. immigration policy. For 25 years, successive administrations maintained these protections, creating a population of long-term residents who are woven into the social and economic fabric of communities across the country. The September 9 deadline will test whether political or legal mechanisms can offer any reprieve — or whether 170,000 people will be left to navigate an immigration system that, for most of them, offers no path forward.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. If you are a TPS holder affected by these changes, please consult with a qualified immigration attorney to discuss your individual circumstances.