Biden Expands Migrant Protections to Historic Highs

President Joe Biden has overseen a dramatic expansion of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program, a quasi-amnesty initiative that has allowed more than one million foreign nationals to remain in the United States. A recent report from the Congressional Research Service highlights how the Biden administration has tripled the number of migrants shielded from deportation compared to when he took office.

TPS, first introduced under the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1990, was designed to protect nationals from countries experiencing famine, war, or natural disasters by granting them temporary protection from deportation. However, successive administrations, including those of Presidents Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Trump, have used the program to continuously renew protections, effectively transforming TPS into a long-term amnesty solution.

Under President Biden, the scale of TPS has reached unprecedented levels. When Biden assumed office in January 2021, fewer than 320,000 individuals were protected under the program. Today, that figure has soared to over one million, with migrants from 17 countries currently benefiting from TPS designations. These countries include Afghanistan, Burma, Cameroon, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Haiti, Honduras, Lebanon, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela, and Yemen.

Biden’s administration has also granted Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) protections to nationals from Hong Kong, Palestine, Lebanon, and Liberia, further increasing the number of migrants shielded from deportation. The most significant expansions under Biden have involved migrants from Venezuela and Haiti. Approximately 900,000 Venezuelans in the U.S. now have or are eligible for TPS due to the administration’s policies, while more than 300,000 Haitians received TPS earlier this year.

These expansions have not gone unnoticed. Critics argue that extending TPS to migrants from countries like Venezuela and Haiti has incentivized waves of illegal immigration at the southern border. Proponents, however, see these measures as essential for humanitarian relief.

The geographic impact of the TPS program is widespread, with the majority of recipients concentrated in states such as Florida, Texas, New York, California, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Indiana, Washington, Utah, Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.

Despite the program’s historic growth, some lawmakers are urging the administration to extend protections even further. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) has called on the Biden administration to expand TPS and similar protections to hundreds of thousands more migrants who currently lack legal status. “I’m asking the administration to come in now to protect some of the immigrant communities — TPS recipients, DACA recipients,” Cortez Masto said during a recent appearance on MSNBC.

This surge in TPS designations is part of a broader trend under the Biden administration. The foreign-born population in the U.S. has reached a record high of nearly 52 million, accounting for approximately 15.5% of the total population. At the current pace, experts project that the foreign-born population could exceed 82 million by 2040, raising questions about the long-term social, economic, and political implications of these immigration policies.

The Biden administration defends its TPS expansions as necessary to provide relief to vulnerable populations facing dire conditions in their home countries. However, critics argue that these measures undermine immigration enforcement and strain public resources. With immigration continuing to be a polarizing issue, the debate over TPS and its implications is likely to remain a focal point of U.S. policy discussions.

As President Biden approaches the latter half of his term, the legacy of his immigration policies is becoming clearer. Whether viewed as a humanitarian triumph or a challenge to the nation’s immigration system, the expansion of TPS under his watch represents a significant shift in how the U.S. approaches temporary migration protections.