Legal Series: Understanding TPS Terminations and HR’s Responsibility

This article is part of an ongoing legal series designed to provide insight and practical guidance on current and emerging workplace compliance issues. These insights shared by lawyers are based on their interpretation of existing regulations and proposed changes, and intended for informational purposes, not to be regarded as legal advice.  

Historically, the U.S. offered a special humanitarian protection, Temporary Protected Status (TPS), for individuals in the U.S. who cannot return to their countries of origin due to the unsafe conditions there. The government can designate countries for TPS, allowing individuals from those countries to live and work in the U.S.

The second Trump Administration has been working to systematically end every TPS designation, leaving many people without work authorization and raising questions about how to coordinate TPS terminations with HR compliance requirements. As of March 2025, TPS impacts a significant portion of the population. Approximately 1.3 million individuals held TPS in the United States, with an estimated 830,000 active workers contributing across numerous industries

Terminating an employee before they lose their work authorization can violate federal law, but so too can employing them after they lose their work authorization. If you employ any TPS recipients, this article provides guidance on how to manage your anti-discrimination obligations alongside your I-9 obligations not to employ anyone without U.S. work authorization. Along with the resources available to help you navigate the legal system as it changes, Outsolve can help you manage your I-9 process.

What TPS Changes Happened in 2025 and 2026?

Since taking office, the Trump Administration has moved to eliminate nearly every TPS designation, reversing Biden-era expansion efforts and issuing termination notices for countries whose designations had in some cases stood for decades. Affected individuals sued, and federal judges initially stayed several of these terminations, extending work authorization for hundreds of thousands of TPS holders. The government appealed, and the case reached the U.S. Supreme Court.

In Mullin v. Doe, No. 25–1083 (June 25, 2026), the government argued that the TPS statute doesn't allow courts to review its administration of the program. The Court agreed in a 6-3 ruling. As a result, TPS recipients no longer have legal recourse to challenge termination of their status.

What TPS Designations Still Exist?

TPS designations are being challenged daily and the best way to determine the status of a TPS is to consult the USCIS website here. It is important to note that Form I-9 does not have any indicators for employers to identify their employees who are in scope of the TPS program.

TPS tracking is manual unless you utilize an electronic solution, like OutSolve's I-9 management solution, that will track EAD categories and countries.

At the start of August 2026, the TPS-designated countries are few:

• El Salvador
• Lebanon
• Sudan
• Ukraine

Several other TPS-affected countries are in a slow termination process, including:

• Burma (Myanmar)
• Ethiopia
• Haiti
• Somalia
• South Sudan
• Syria
• Venezuela
• Yemen

How Can HR Handle TPS Terminations?

TPS has long posed unique HR hurdles, as an employee’s work authorization depends on an underlying federal designation over which they have no control. Generally, employers use Form I-9 to verify that employees have work authorization. As mentioned above, Form I-9 does not identify an employee’s TPS country and employers often struggle to determine which employees may be affected. It becomes a manual process for an HR team that may already be stretched thin.

When an employee presents work authorization through an employment authorization document (EAD), you typically need to identify two relevant dates: the date the employee’s work authorization expires and the date the employee’s EAD (I-766) expires. In many cases, but not always, the two dates are the same. In the case of TPS-related EADs, determining what those dates are is significantly more complicated than consulting a clear deadline.

To avoid manual tracking of TPS, a digital solution like Outsolve’s Form I-9 management solution can help. This solution tracks both EAD category codes and country information which can help employers quickly identify impacted employees, monitor TPS related changes, and manage reverification requirements with confidence.

TPS Audits

You can run an I-9 audit to ensure you identify all potentially affected employees. When you do, search for the specific designation DHS uses to identify TPS on an EAD. In general, a TPS-based EAD will say that it is a category A(12) or C(19) EAD (I-766). Those designations come from federal regulations that establish work authorization for TPS recipients. 

After you complete the audit and identify affected employees, you can prepare for the next steps.

TPS I-9 Reverification

One of the most important Temporary Protected Status employer requirements is that you need to complete TPS I-9 reverification when the employee’s work status expires—not before. To complete TPS I-9 reverification, the employee must provide evidence that they have work authorization and use that document to fill out Supplement B from Form I-9. Section 1 of Supplement B requires you to identify the date the employee’s work authorization expires, and Section 2 requires you to identify the date the employee’s EAD expires.

Once the district courts dissolve their orders, USCIS should issue guidance identifying the final operative dates for TPS work authorization for each affected country. Generally, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has indicated that you should fill Section 1 in with “as per court order” and Section 2 with the country’s operative date identified in that USCIS guidance.

If, upon reverification, you determine that your employee’s work status has expired and they have no alternative form of status, you typically must terminate them. If you do not, you are employing someone without work authorization in violation of federal law. If the government discovers that violation, it may impose monetary penalties.

Notably, that a TPS recipient’s TPS ends does not necessarily mean they have no status. Individuals who qualified for TPS may have valid asylum claims, and you might also be able to sponsor former TPS holders for a green card.

Moving Forward

The termination of TPS leaves many uncertainties for people across the board, from recipients to their employers and HR professionals. Until the district courts dissolve their stays and USCIS follows up with clear guidance, you should not take action with respect to covered TPS employees. Before then, you can conduct an audit to identify employees who may be affected and develop a plan to handle the official termination when it occurs.

The relationship between TPS termination and HR compliance is complex, but Outsolve is here to help. Outsolve’s Form I-9 management solution tracks both EAD category codes and country information, helping employers quickly surface impacted employees, monitor TPS related changes, and manage reverification requirements with confidence. The I-9 solution also can help you manage the Form I-9 employment verification process, keep it organized throughout, and stay in compliance as the legal system changes.

OutSolve

Founded in 1998, OutSolve has evolved into a premier compliance-driven HR advisory firm, leveraging deep expertise to simplify complex regulatory landscapes for businesses of all sizes. With a comprehensive suite of solutions encompassing HR compliance, workforce analytics, and risk mitigation consulting, OutSolve empowers organizations to navigate the intricate world of employment regulations with confidence.