The U.S. government announced Friday that nearly a million immigrants from El Salvador, Sudan, Ukraine and Venezuela would be allowed to legally stay in the United States for an additional 18 months.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it was extending for this period the special regime protecting 232,000 Salvadorans, 1,900 Sudanese, 600,000 Venezuelans and 103,700 Ukrainians.
This announcement comes ten days before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised to carry out a mass expulsion of migrants after taking office.
This special status is granted to people whose safety is not guaranteed upon return to their country of origin, due to war, natural disasters or other “extraordinary” reasons.
Donald Trump tried to end this program during his first term between 2017 and 2021, but without success.
-Salvadorans, who benefit from this special regime for environmental reasons, will be able to re-register in March and stay in the United States until September 2026, said the DHS.
The Sudanese enjoy the same right because their country has been hit by a devastating war for 20 months. A similar situation for Ukrainians, after Russia invaded their country in February 2022.
As for Venezuelans, their special status is extended due to the “serious humanitarian situation that the country continues to experience, due to the political and economic crisis under the inhumane regime of Nicolas Maduro”, underlined the DHS.
President Maduro was sworn in on Friday for a third six-year term. The United States, which does not recognize his election, denounced the “sham” and the “illegitimate” nature of his inauguration, and imposed new sanctions.
