U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has released updated guidance on court-ordered extensions of work authorization under Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Burma, Ethiopia, Somalia, and South Sudan. As an example, the guidance for Ethiopia notes:
Ethiopia: The validity of Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) issued under the TPS designation of Ethiopia with an original expiration date of June 12, 2024, and Dec. 12, 2025, is extended per court order. African Communities Together et al. v. Noem et al., No. 26-cv-10278-BEM (D. Mass.). The extension is limited relief until the lower courts align with the U.S. Supreme Court’s favorable decision in Mullin v. Doe, 609 U.S. ____ (2026), issued on June 25, 2026.
When completing the Expiration Date (if any) fields on Form I-9, input “as per court order” in Section 1 and “Aug. 19, 2026,” in Section 2 along with a note in the Additional Information box. Employers may download the Alert and TPS Ethiopia webpage and attach them to Form I-9. When completing a case in E-Verify, enter the expiration date of “Aug. 19, 2026,” from the Form I-9. Check USCIS websites regularly for updated information.
According to reports, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers are expanding the use of ankle monitors. For example, Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, whose TPS has expired but who haven’t committed any crimes are receiving ankle monitors after being summoned by letter to an ICE field office. Ankle monitors are nothing new, but many of the affected Haitians had filed asylum applications and were not in immigration court proceedings. Rebecca Bundy, the supervising attorney at Advocates for Basic Legal Equality in Toledo, said that “for many folks in the Haitian community … these are not people who are in immigration court proceedings. They are people who filed affirmative asylum applications with USCIS, and so the jurisdiction and the procedure is completely different. We’re actually not sure yet how the immigration enforcement, CBP, and ICE are claiming to have the authority to impose these restrictions, impose the ankle monitor.”
TPS and work authorization were terminated recently for Haiti, Syria, and Yemen. The TPS expiration dates vary by country. USCIS recommends checking the agency’s country webpages on TPS regularly for updates because the status of an individual’s TPS and work authorization depends on developments in related litigation. For example, for Haiti, a court determined on August 5, 2026, that a stay of the termination of TPS for Haiti pending judicial review was no longer in effect, but ordered that the parties in the case propose a schedule for further proceedings.
