Temporary protections for about 200,000 Salvadoran immigrants are in limbo as deadline nears

MIAMI (AP) — Temporary legal protections for about 200,000 immigrants from El Salvador was in limbo Wednesday as a deadline neared for the Trump administration to decide if they should end, as it has done for hundreds of thousands from Venezuela, Haiti and other countries.

The Temporary Protected Status designation expires Wednesday but the statute does not give a specific time for when that happens. If the Department of Homeland Security takes no action, protections are automatically extended for six months. This rare reprieve happened in May, when the protections were automatically extended to about 11,000 Lebanese, allowing them to stay and work in the U.S. for another 180 days.

DHS said in a statement Wednesday that it will announce a decision on El Salvador “at the appropriate time” and that protections would remain in place until then.

About 200,000 people from El Salvador have lived in the U.S. since 2001 under TPS, which allows people already in the country to remain with work permits for renewable periods of up to 18 months, if the secretary of homeland security determines conditions are unsafe for return. They are eligible for work permits.

During President Donald Trump’s second term, Homeland Security has ended TPS for more than 1 million people from 14 countries, including El Salvador, Venezuela, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Afghanistan and Syria. Only about 103,000 from three countries remain protected with termination dates in October for Ukraine and Sudan, and November for Lebanon.

The Trump administration obtained a major victory when the Supreme Court ruled in June that Homeland Security acted within its authority by ending TPS for about 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians. The impact of the decision extends far beyond Haitians and Syrians, potentially affecting nearly 1.3 million people from 17 countries on TPS.

Tom Homan, Trump’s “border czar" who has advocated for ending TPS, said Tuesday that the decision rests with the Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.

“If it expires, it’s up to the secretary,” Homan said when asked about TPS. “Temporary protected status means temporary. Let’s face it, El Salvador is a much safer country than it’s ever been now with a new president up there."

TPS was created by Congress in 1990 to prevent deportations to countries suffering from natural disasters or civil strife.

It was granted to El Salvador following two devastating 2001 earthquakes that left hundreds of thousands of people homeless. Just before leaving office, President Joe Biden extended TPS for El Salvador for 18 months to Sept. 9, 2026.

The vast majority of Salvadoran TPS holders have children born in the U.S. Many have lost their jobs and fear being detained, separated from their American family members, and deported to a country they barely know.

El Salvador, once one of the most violent places in the world, has become one of the safest countries in the Americas since Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele ordered mass arrests in 2022. In April 2025, the State Department upgraded El Salvador’s travel advisory to its highest level, citing a drop in violent crimes and murders.

Bukele has been an ally of Trump’s policy of mass deportations and was one of the first countries to receive deportees and held them at a mega prison in El Salvador also known as CECOT.

Human rights groups and advocates have denounced mass and arbitrary arrests, torture, and disappearances in the Central American nation’s prison system.

Trump received Bukele at the White House in April of 2025 and invited him to participate in a military coalition to fight against drug trafficking and organized crime. Less than a year later, in July of 2026, Trump and Bukele met again in Washington, the Salvadoran president has not publicly stated whether he requested an extension of TPS from the Trump administration.

In 2019, during the first Trump administration, Bukele asked Trump to extend TPS. It remained because there were lawsuits.

Salvadorans in the U.S. sent $9.9 billion in remittances to El Salvador last year, representing 24% of country’s gross domestic product, according to El Salvador’s central bank.

Associated Press writer Rebecca Santana in Washington contributed to this report.

FILE - 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)

Social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate must remain in custody as they fight extradition to the United Kingdom, where the brothers are accused of rape and sex trafficking, a federal judge in Miami ruled Wednesday.

U.S. Magistrate Lauren Louis denied a defense motion for release, meaning the Tates will remain jailed during what could be a monthslong extradition process.

The Tates “have failed to meet their burden to demonstrate that they do not present a risk of flight or danger to the community, or that special circumstances warrant their release. Respondents have failed to demonstrate that special circumstances here warrant relief, whether their proposed special circumstances are considered singly or together,” Louis said in her ruling. “Having failed to meet these three factors, Respondents’ Motion for Release Pending Extradition Proceedings is DENIED.”

The Tates' legal team said in a statement that the decision to keep them in custody creates a legal contradiction. The brothers are being detained in the United States because of a British extradition request while simultaneously being required to defend themselves against charges in Romania, the statement said.

“They are now facing an extraordinary situation in which they are being held thousands of miles from Romania while Romanian proceedings continue, deadlines approach, an additional indictment is said to be imminent and their own Romanian lawyer says he cannot properly prepare,” the lawyers said.

“No serious person can pretend that this can be reviewed properly through occasional conversations from a federal detention center in another country.”

The Tates have become among the world’s most polarizing internet personalities with their promotion of wealth, male dominance and misogyny through their social media empire. Prosecutors say the brothers are a flight risk because they appear to have money and have bragged about multiple passports.

During a hearing last month in Miami, the brothers denied criminal accusations spanning several countries, blasted their critics and described their brash online personas as characters and not their true personalities. The Tates said they exaggerate their claims of wealth to boost their clout on social media.

The new allegations are the latest in the Tates’ long-running international legal saga spanning the U.S., Britain and Romania. They have been held at the Federal Detention Center in Miami since making a brief court appearance two days after their July 18 arrest.

Lawyers for the Tates asked the judge to allow them to be freed from custody at least until an extradition hearing can be held on their U.K. rape and trafficking charges.

They have repeatedly argued that Britain’s request is out of line because their criminal case in Romania is going first. Romanian officials have let the brothers remain free until the proceedings conclude, and they have not tried to flee and are complying with all court restrictions. Earlier this month, Romanian prosecutors indicted the brothers on additional charges.

Andrew Tate, 39, and Tristan Tate, 38, are dual U.S.-British citizens known for their social media empire promoting wealth, male dominance and misogyny.

Andrew Tate is a former professional kickboxer and self-described misogynist who has amassed more than 10 million followers, most of them boys and young men, on X. He has been banned from platforms like YouTube, TikTok and Instagram for violating hate speech guidelines.

He also runs an online academy where he says he teaches young men how to get rich and attract women. Tristan Tate is also a former kickboxer.

The brothers are avid supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump.

FILE - Andrew Tate, right, and his brother, Tristan, arrive at an event, April 11, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Pool, File)

Supporters of Andrew and Tristan Tate stand outside of the C. Clyde Atkins U.S. Courthouse as they fight extradition to the United Kingdom on charges of rape and sex trafficking at a bond hearing, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Supporters of Andrew and Tristan Tate do push-ups outside of the C. Clyde Atkins U.S. Courthouse as the Tate brothers fight extradition to the United Kingdom on charges of rape and sex trafficking in Miami, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)