President Donald Trump greets El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, left, at the Shield of the Americas Summit, March 7, 2026, at Trump National Doral Miami in Doral, Fla. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
MIAMI (AP) — A deadline for the Trump administration to decide on legal protections for about 200,000 immigrants from El Salvador passed without any public announcement, raising hopes among some that it may be extended for six months.
The Department of Homeland Security has been quiet about its plans, saying in a statement Wednesday it would make an announcement “at an appropriate time” and that Temporary Protected Status for El Salvador would stay in effect until then. Its silence sent attorneys and advocates scrambling to explain what might happen next.
Under immigration law, temporary status is automatically extended for six months if the government takes no action. But some attorneys cautioned that the administration could take action without making a public statement or that it could announce a decision in the near future.
Still, it gave a short reprieve to Salvadoran immigrants and raised expectations that they could be spared, unlike hundreds of thousands of immigrants who have seen TPS end since President Donald Trump again took office last year. TPS allows people already in the country to remain, with work permits, for renewable periods of up to 18 months, if the homeland security secretary determines conditions are unsafe for their return.
