The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has taken steps to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for certain countries, which could have workforce impacts for the tree care industry.

USA-Mexico border wall. Arivaca, Arizona. Nils Huenerfuerst/Unsplash

The Trump administration has made immigration enforcement a key issue on its policy agenda early in its second term. As noted in this column in TCI Magazine’s March 2025 issue, “Impacts to the Immigrant Workforce in the New Trump Administration,” a series of Day 1 executive orders signaled increased work-site enforcement and penalties for employers, along with future guidance to strengthen security measures for the employment-based visa process. Federal agencies have been moving swiftly to implement these directives, with TPS being the latest program to come under scrutiny.

Temporary Protected Status
Under current law, DHS may designate a foreign country for TPS when it determines the conditions in that country prevent its nationals from returning safely. Conditions such as armed conflict and environmental disasters, among other factors, may qualify a country to be designated for TPS. TPS designations last between six to 18 months and can be renewed or rescinded at the discretion of the DHS secretary. Any renewal or termination must be published in the Federal Register at least 60 days before the TPS designation is set to expire.

When a country receives a TPS designation, eligible individuals may obtain an employment authorization document (EAD), and are protected from removal from the United States. While TPS beneficiaries may apply for nonimmigrant status or seek adjustment of status if independently eligible, TPS itself does not provide a direct path to lawful permanent-resident status or any other immigration classification.

The tree care industry employs many TPS workers, and TCIA routinely advocates for continued protections for TPS recipients, as they contribute significantly to the success of these businesses and the U.S. economy in general. Losing TPS workers who have been trained to safely practice tree care could create additional workforce challenges for tree care businesses already facing labor shortages.

Several countries affected
Since January, DHS has taken steps to both extend and terminate TPS designations for several countries, including Venezuela, Afghanistan, Haiti and South Sudan.

In January 2025, former Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas ordered an 18-month extension of Venezuela’s 2023 TPS designation. Under the Biden administration, Venezuela had been granted two separate TPS designations – the first in 2021 (“2021 designation”) and the second in October 2023 (“2023 designation”). The Mayorkas decision would have extended the 2023 designation until October 2026.

On February 3, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem vacated the Mayorkas extension, and on February 5, DHS published a notice in the Federal Register announcing that the 2023 TPS designation for Venezuela would be terminated after April 7, 2025. According to the notice, employment authorization for impacted individuals would expire on April 2. The 2021 TPS designation for Venezuela was not impacted by this notice, and is currently set to expire on September 10, 2025.

On February 19, the National TPS Alliance and several Venezuelan TPS beneficiaries filed a lawsuit against DHS challenging the decision to terminate the 2023 designation. The lawsuit argues that the move to terminate the 2023 designation violates the Administrative Procedures Act, and that the termination violates the Fifth Amendment, as the plaintiffs contend that the action was racial animus.

On March 31, a federal judge in the Northern California District Court granted the plaintiff’s motion to postpone the termination while litigation proceeds. The Trump administration appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and sought an emergency stay from the U.S. Supreme Court.

On May 19, the Supreme Court lifted the district court’s stay, allowing DHS to proceed with terminating the 2023 designation. However, the Court allowed litigation to continue on whether DHS could invalidate TPS-related documents – such as EADs –previously issued under the 2023 designation.

On May 30, the Northern California district court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs on that issue, temporarily preserving the status and work authorization of individuals issued TPS documents under the 2023 designation. As a result, TPS protection and employment authorization were reinstated for those individuals while the broader challenge to DHS’s termination of the 2023 designation proceeds. DHS also is likely to appeal this order.

Afghanistan and Haiti
In addition to Venezuela, DHS has taken similar steps to terminate TPS designations for Afghanistan and Haiti. According to the Federal Register notice, the designation for Afghanistan is set to expire on July 14, 2025. For Haiti, Secretary Noem partially vacated the most recent redesignation for the country, shortening the duration from 18 months to 12 months and moving the expiration date from February 6, 2026, to August 3, 2025.

South Sudan
In contrast, the TPS designation for South Sudan was automatically extended by statute for six months – from May 4 to November 3, 2025 – after DHS did not issue a timely determination by the statutory deadline.

Lawsuits challenging the terminations are ongoing. TCIA will continue to monitor developments that may affect TPS designations and the tree care workforce. For the latest updates, visit advocacy.tcia.org.

Bailey Graves is a senior associate with Ulman Public Policy, TCIA’s Washington, D.C.-based advocacy and lobbying partner.