The Biden administration extended eligibility deportation relief for Yemeni nationals on Tuesday. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas extended and re-designated Yemen for 18 months of Temporary Protected Status from Sept. 4 through March 3, 2023.  The extension allows approximately 1,700 Yemenis currently benefiting from TPS to retain their protection through March 2023 and allows an additional 480 Yemini nationals, or people who have no nationality but last resided in Yemen, to apply for protection.

Mayorkas made the decision to re-designate Yemen for TPS protection in response to the six-year civil war and issues such as lack of food, water and healthcare, large-scale destruction of infrastructure, population displacement, a cholera outbreak that has been ongoing since 2016, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Mayorkas said: “Yemen continues to experience worsening humanitarian and economic conditions that prevent individuals from safely returning to their homes. Therefore, I have decided to extend and re-designate Yemen for Temporary Protected Status. We will continue to protect and offer these individuals a place of residency temporarily in the United States.”