U.S. Ends Temporary Protected Status for Myanmar Nationals

 

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced that it will terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for approximately 10,000 Myanmar nationals currently living in the United States. The decision was released on Monday through a notice published in the Federal Register and is scheduled to take effect in 60 days.

 

DHS stated that, after reviewing current conditions in Myanmar and consulting with other federal agencies, Secretary Kristi Noem determined that the country “no longer continues to meet the conditions” required for TPS designation. The department asserted that local administrative structures, including those organized by ethnic groups, have shown “tangible gains in governance and public services,” which it described as indicators of improved stability.

 

Myanmar has been under military control since the 2021 coup. It was initially granted TPS designation in May 2021 under the Biden administration, citing “extraordinary and temporary conditions” that made safe return for nationals untenable. The designation was renewed in 2022 and again in March 2024, extending protections through November 2025.

 

TPS allows eligible nationals from designated countries to remain in the United States for up to 18 months and legally work if conditions such as armed conflict, natural disaster, or instability prevent safe return. The status is typically renewable following further review of country conditions.

 

The Myanmar decision follows a series of TPS terminations affecting other nationalities, including Afghanistan, Cameroon, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, South Sudan, and Venezuela. These changes are part of broader immigration policy revisions initiated by the Trump administration.

 

In June, the administration also added Myanmar to a travel ban targeting countries it considers to have a “large-scale presence of terrorists.” The policy includes additional restrictions for travelers from Afghanistan, Chad, Congo (Republic), Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.

 

Advocacy organizations, including the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI), had urged the government to maintain TPS for Myanmar. USCRI President Eskinder Negash said in a statement that the United States has “a moral and legal obligation to protect those who cannot safely return to Myanmar,” arguing that continued protection is “not just compassionate — it’s essential.”

 

According to estimates from the Pew Research Center, roughly 240,000 people in the United States identified as Burmese in 2023 based on census data.

 

The move to end TPS protections comes shortly after the administration cancelled relief for Somali nationals in Minnesota. The change prompted criticism from state officials and community organizations, with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz publicly rejecting the administration’s characterization of Somali communities.

 

Previoιus attempts to end TPS protections have faced legal challenges. Earlier this month, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said the policy changes have placed more than 675,000 people at risk of family separation, detention, or deportation, calling the actions “one of the most sweeping rollbacks of humanitarian protections in the program’s history.”

 

Haddy Gassama, senior policy counsel at the ACLU, said the recent termination of TPS protections for Venezuelan nationals represented “an inflection point” in efforts to restrict humanitarian programs and could expose “hundreds of thousands of our neighbors” to enforcement actions.