According to internal documents reviewed by The Washington Post, DHS Secretary Kristjen Nielsen will likely end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) status for the country of Nepal, giving some 9,000 Nepalis until June 25, 2019 to make arrangements to leave the U.S. and return to their home country.
Though the December 2016 extension of TPS is scheduled to expire June 24, 2018, DHS will allow a 1-year grace period for Nepalis to make preparations for their return.
TPS provides temporary legal status and work permits to foreign citizens whose home countries have faced unexpected events from armed conflicts to natural disasters and is only supposed to last six-months to 18-months. However, there is no limit to the number of times TPS status can be renewed by the government.
Following the devastation of a 7.8-magnitude earthquake in 2015, some 15,000 Nepali foreign nationals who were in the U.S. illegally were granted TPS status. Since then, some 6,000 have returned to their home country, leaving 9,000 Nepalis in the U.S. with TPS status.
For more on this story, see The Washington Post.
