Temporary Protected Status: Steps Taken to Inform and Communicate Secretary of Homeland Security's Decisions

The INA includes provisions for eligible foreign nationals residing in the United States to obtain temporary humanitarian protection from removal, as well as work authorization, when their country of origin is designated for TPS. Since 1990, nationals of 22 countries have received TPS. The Secretary of Homeland Security may designate a country for TPS after consulting with other agencies and determining that the country meets statutory criteria related to armed conflict, environmental disaster, or extraordinary or temporary conditions that prevent its nationals from returning in safety. The Secretary may designate a country for TPS for periods of 6 to 18 months and can extend a TPS designation if deemed appropriate.

GAO was asked to review the TPS decision process. This report, among other things, (1) describes the approach DHS takes to inform the Secretary of Homeland Security's TPS reviews and (2) examines DHS's communication to the public regarding TPS decisions and related information, including employment authorization. GAO reviewed documentation and data related to TPS decisions, including a nongeneralizable sample of 26 decisions for eight countries in fiscal years 2014 through 2018. GAO selected the countries to reflect various types of TPS decisions, among other factors. GAO also interviewed agency officials.

The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) reviews of countries for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) include three main steps, according to DHS and other agencies' documents and officials. First, the Secretary of Homeland Security may initiate a review of a country for TPS designation in response to various triggering factors, such as a request from a foreign government, on the basis of one or more statutory conditions. The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) requires subsequent reviews after an initial designation. Second, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)—which manages and coordinates the TPS review process for DHS—and the Department of State (State) compile country conditions reports and recommendations to inform the Secretary's decision. Although the INA does not prescribe the other agencies that must be consulted for a TPS review,State generally has a role in providing input for the Secretary of Homeland Security's consideration. GAO found DHS collected country conditions reports and recommendations from USCIS and State for all eight of the countries GAO selected for its review. Other DHS components and non-DHS entities may also provide information. Third, under the INA,the Secretary of Homeland Security exercises discretion in deciding whether to initially designate a country for TPS. For an existing designation, the Secretary determines whether country conditions warrant an extension or termination of TPS. DHS provides official notice of decisions in the Federal Register.

DHS has communicated TPS decisions to the public through required Federal Register notices as well as other mechanisms. However, DHS has not provided consistent guidance regarding mechanisms it uses to communicate automatic extensions of TPS employment authorization documents. USCIS officials stated that the agency has typically communicated these extensions of documents for TPS beneficiaries through Federal Register notices. However, for five recent automatic extensions, USCIS instead mailed individual notifications to thousands of beneficiaries. USCIS guidance on its website identifies the individual notifications as a mechanism for communicating automatic extensions, but an employers' handbook and related guidance do not. As a result, some employers reportedly terminated TPS beneficiaries' employment because the employers did not understand or accept the notifications as proof of employment authorization. Consistent guidance about the mechanisms USCIS uses could help reduce the risk that TPS beneficiaries will lose their jobs because of confusion about their authorization to work in the United States.

GAO recommends USCIS consistently identify in published guidance the mechanisms used to communicate automatic extensions of TPS employment authorization documents. DHS concurred with GAO's recommendation.

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a form of humanitarian protection  that provides a temporary benefit to eligible foreign nationals from  designated countries who are residing in the United States. TPS protects  beneficiaries from removal and permits work authorization. Countries  may be designated for TPS on the basis of statutory criteria related to  armed conflict, such as civil war; an environmental disaster, such as an  earthquake or hurricane; or extraordinary and temporary conditions in the  country that prevent nationals from returning in safety. Under the  Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), the Secretary of Homeland  Security, after consultation with other agencies, may grant TPS to  eligible foreign nationals in the United States from foreign countries that  the Secretary has designated for TPS. Although the INA does not  prescribe the other agencies that must be consulted, the Department of  State (State) generally has a role in providing input for the Secretary of  Homeland Security’s TPS reviews.

Since TPS was established in 1990, 22 countries have received TPS  designations. In fiscal year 2018, more than 400,000 TPS beneficiaries  were living in the United States, according to data from DHS’s U.S.  Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). These beneficiaries were  from 10 countries—El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua,  Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen—with the majority from  El Salvador, Honduras, and Haiti. Since the beginning of fiscal year  2018, the Secretary of Homeland Security has announced decisions to  terminate TPS for six countries—El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal,  Nicaragua, and Sudan; these decisions are currently the subject of  litigation.

You asked us to review the decision-making process for TPS  designations. This report (1) describes TPS determinations and numbers  of beneficiaries since TPS was established; (2) describes the approach  that DHS, in consultation with State and other relevant agencies, uses to  inform the Secretary of Homeland Security’s TPS reviews; and (3)  examines DHS’s public communication regarding TPS decisions and  related information, including work authorization.

To describe TPS determinations and numbers of beneficiaries since TPS  was established, we reviewed information and data in Federal Register  notices for TPS designations for fiscal years 1990 through 2019 and  analyzed USCIS data on numbers of TPS beneficiaries for fiscal years  1990 through 2018. To assess the reliability of the USCIS data, we  reviewed related documentation and interviewed USCIS officials to  identify any missing or erroneous data and resolve any discrepancies. We  determined that the data for fiscal years 2000 through 2018 were  sufficiently reliable to provide general information about the size and  characteristics of TPS beneficiaries.

To describe the approach that DHS uses to inform TPS reviews, we  reviewed provisions in the INA related to TPS as well as DHS and State  documentation related to the processes they have used since fiscal year  2014 to collect information for these reviews. This documentation  included information that DHS and State provided for a judgmental,  nongeneralizable sample of eight countries (El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras,  Nepal, Nicaragua, Syria, and Yemen), representing 26 TPS decisions in  fiscal years 2014 through 2018. We selected this sample to represent a  range of decision types and designation reasons, among other factors.  While this sample cannot be generalized to the countries or decisions we  did not review, it provided information about the approach DHS uses for  TPS reviews. Additionally, we reviewed examples of information that  other agencies—for example, the Department of Defense, the  Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control  and Prevention, and the U.S. Agency for International Development—and  entities such as members of Congress or nongovernmental organizations  provided to DHS to inform TPS reviews. We also interviewed officials  from DHS, State, the Department of Defense, the Department of Health  and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and  the U.S. Agency for International Development.

To examine DHS’s public communication regarding TPS decisions and  related information, we reviewed information that DHS published in  Federal Register notices from November 29, 1990, through October 1,  2019. We also examined DHS guidance published on its website and  DHS procedures as of fiscal year 2019 for communicating TPS work  authorization. We compared DHS’s guidance and procedures with  relevant federal internal control standards. Additionally, we reviewed  information from the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division’s website  related to automatic extensions of employment authorization documents  for TPS beneficiaries. We also interviewed DHS officials.

We conducted this performance audit from September 2018 to March  2020 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing  standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to  obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for  our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe  that our evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings  and conclusions based on our audit objectives.

Background Immigration and Nationality Act Provisions for Temporary Protected Status

The INA provides for the Secretary of Homeland Security, after  consultation with other agencies, to designate a foreign country for TPS if  the conditions in that country fall into one or more of three statutory  categories. These categories are generally described as consisting of (1)  ongoing armed conflict, (2) environmental disaster, and (3) extraordinary  and temporary conditions. The Secretary may designate a country for a  period of at least 6 months but no more than 18 months.

At least 60 days before the end of the designation period, the Secretary is  required, after consulting with other appropriate agencies, to undertake a  review of the conditions in the foreign country for which a designation is in  effect and to determine whether the conditions for such designation  continue to be met. The Secretary must subsequently take one of the  following actions:

Extend the country’s TPS designation for a period of 6, 12, or 18  months, if the Secretary determines that country conditions warrant an  extension of TPS. This provides TPS beneficiaries with an extended  period of protection from removal.

Terminate the country’s TPS designation, if the Secretary determines  that the country no longer meets the statutory criteria. This results in  an expiration of the period of protection for foreign nationals who were  granted TPS under a country’s designation.

In addition, the Secretary may exercise his or her discretion, on the basis  of this review, to redesignate the country for TPS. With a redesignation,  the Secretary allows eligible nationals from the designated foreign country  who have arrived in the United States since the initial designation, or  another date established by the Secretary, to apply for TPS.

TPS provides temporary humanitarian protection to eligible foreign  nationals in the United States who, for various reasons, may not have  otherwise lawful status and therefore, in the absence of TPS, would be  subject to enforcement and removal under the INA. Foreign nationals  may be present in the United States without valid status and potentially  removable for various reasons, such as having entered without inspection  and admission at a port of entry or having remained in the country beyond  the expiration of previous temporary status (e.g., tourist, foreign student).  Eligible foreign nationals may also seek TPS when they currently have  another lawful status, according to USCIS officials. USCIS officials noted  that this may occur, for example, when a foreign national has a temporary  nonimmigrant status nearing its end date when TPS is designated for his  or her country and applies for TPS before the existing status expires.

Under the INA, applicants for TPS must apply during the registration  period established by the Secretary of Homeland Security for a particular  country designation. To be eligible for TPS, an applicant from a  designated country must have been physically present in the United  States continuously since the most recent designation’s effective date  and must have resided in the United States continuously since the date  established by the Secretary of Homeland Security. The INA also  specifies that an individual is ineligible for TPS if he or she has been  convicted of any felony or of two or more misdemeanors committed in the  United States; if any of the statutory bars to asylum apply, such as  involvement in persecution of others; or if he or she is reasonably  regarded as a danger to the security of the United States, among other  bases.

In addition to protecting beneficiaries from removal, TPS authorizes them  to work in the United States for the designation period. To receive  evidence of work authorization, TPS beneficiaries generally apply to  USCIS for an employment authorization document, Form I-766. USCIS  provides this document as a plastic card that shows proof of the  individual’s authorization to work in the United States and includes a  photograph of the individual. Although USCIS does not require  beneficiaries to apply for an employment authorization document,  according to USCIS officials, beneficiaries typically apply to obtain these  cards as evidence of their authorization to work in the United States.  Figure 1 shows an example of an employment authorization document  issued by USCIS.

Key DHS and State Components That May Be Involved in TPS Reviews

Several key DHS and State components may be involved in the TPS  decision process, as table 1 shows. Additionally, other DHS offices and  components, as well as agencies such as the Department of Defense or  U.S. Agency for International Development, may provide information  about country conditions to help inform the Secretary of Homeland  Security’s decisions.

Foreign Nationals from 22 Countries Have Received TPS, Totaling About 430,000 Beneficiaries in Fiscal Years 2000- 2018 TPS Has Been Granted to Foreign Nationals from 22 Countries since It Was Established

Since TPS was established in 1990, foreign nationals in the United States  from 22 countries have been granted TPS. Our review of Federal  Register notices published in fiscal years 1990 through 2019 found  varying bases for the 22 countries’ TPS designations. We also found that  designations for 20 of these countries were subsequently extended or the  countries were redesignated one or more times. Somalia, first  designated for TPS in September 1991, had the longest overall  designation period since TPS was established. As of the end of fiscal  year 2019, Somalia’s designation had been extended 21 times and the  country had been redesignated twice; its most recent extension was set  to expire in March 2020. Designations for only two countries were  terminated without any extensions or redesignations—Kuwait, designated  in 1991, and Guinea-Bissau, designated in 1999. Figure 2 shows all  effective dates of TPS designations and subsequent decisions, including  extensions, terminations, and redesignations, as well as the bases for the  designations for each of the 22 countries in fiscal years 1990 through  2019.

As figure 2 shows, 26 TPS designations occurred in fiscal years 1990  through 2019, and 22 designations were extended at least once. As of  September 30, 2019, the designations for all but four countries had been  terminated and the termination of six countries’ designations since fiscal  year 2018 had been temporarily halted because of ongoing litigation.  Redesignations occurred 20 times.

Designations. Of the 26 TPS designations, three were for one  country, Liberia, and four were for two countries, El Salvador and  Sierra Leone, that were each designated twice.

Extensions. The majority of TPS designations (17 of 26 designations)  were extended up to eight times. Designations for five countries—El  Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Somalia, and Sudan—were extended  more than 10 times each. Three of the 22 countries’ designations  were not extended before termination.

Terminations. The TPS designations for all countries except  Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, and Yemen had been terminated as of  September 30, 2019. The termination of six countries’ designations  since fiscal year 2018 had been temporarily halted because of  ongoing litigation. Several lawsuits had been filed regarding the  Secretary of Homeland Security’s decisions to terminate TPS for El  Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Sudan. In October  2018, a U.S. district judge in California issued a preliminary injunction  for one of the lawsuits, temporarily blocking DHS from enforcing the  Secretary’s TPS termination decisions for El Salvador, Haiti,  Nicaragua, and Sudan. The U.S. government filed an appeal in  response to the preliminary injunction. According to USCIS officials,  DHS has regularly published notices of its continued compliance with  the court’s injunction and has stated that it will continue to publish  such notices pending resolution of the case In April 2019, a district  court judge in New York issued a second preliminary injunction  covering Haiti, which the U.S. government appealed in June 2019.  Additionally, under an agreement to stay the proceedings in response  to a lawsuit filed in California in February 2019, the government  stipulated that it would temporarily halt terminations for Honduras and  Nepal until the appeal of the October 2018 injunction had been  resolved.

Redesignations. Of the 20 TPS redesignations, six were for  countries that were redesignated once, two were for one country that  was redesignated twice, and twelve were for four countries that each  were redesignated thrice—the largest number of TPS  redesignations.

About 430,000 Eligible Foreign Nationals Received TPS in Fiscal Years 2000-2018

USCIS data show that applications for TPS were approved for a total of  431,848 foreign nationals in fiscal years 2000 through 2018 and that the  number of TPS beneficiaries each year grew from about 70,000 in fiscal  year 2000 to about 420,000 in fiscal year 2018. The number of TPS  beneficiaries increased most rapidly in fiscal years 2000 through 2005,  particularly after the designation of Honduras in 1999 and El Salvador in  2001. According to USCIS officials, because adjudicating all TPS  applications can take years, depending on the number of applicants from  a country, the number of TPS beneficiaries for a designated country may  continue rising after the established registration period for the specific  designation. For example, although Honduras was initially designated for  TPS in 1999, with an applicant registration period that ended on July 5,  1999, USCIS data show that the number of beneficiaries from Honduras  who were granted TPS peaked in 2007 at 85,759 foreign nationals. See  appendix II for additional information on the numbers of TPS beneficiaries  in fiscal years 2000 through 2018, by country.

Data on the number of TPS beneficiaries for fiscal year 2018—the most  recent available—show that the majority of TPS beneficiaries were from  three countries (El Salvador, Honduras, and Haiti), as figure 3 shows.  About 98 percent of beneficiaries from six countries (Sudan, Honduras,  Nicaragua, El Salvador, Haiti, and Nepal) in fiscal year 2018—408,773  foreign nationals—held TPS because the termination of their country’s  TPS designation was temporarily halted because of ongoing litigation. In  addition, about 2 percent of beneficiaries from four countries (Somalia,  South Sudan, Syria, and Yemen) in fiscal year 2018—9,019 foreign  nationals—held TPS because their country’s designation was extended.  See appendix II for additional information about beneficiary  characteristics in fiscal year 2018, including age, gender, and location.

DHS’s Approach to Inform the Secretary’s TPS Reviews Includes Three Primary Steps

Our review of documentation for selected TPS decisions in fiscal years  2014 through 2018 and our interviews with DHS, USCIS, and State  officials indicated that DHS’s approach for initial or subsequent reviews of  countries for TPS consists of three primary steps:  1.  The Secretary of Homeland Security initiates a review of a country for  TPS. For an initial TPS designation, the Secretary may initiate  consideration of a country in response to various triggering factors.  Such factors may include, for example, a request from a U.S.  government entity or a foreign government for a TPS designation  based on the statutory conditions for TPS (i.e., armed conflict,  environmental disaster, or extraordinary and temporary conditions).  For an existing designation approaching its end date, a statutory  deadline requires the Secretary to undertake a review.  2.  DHS collects information on country conditions and recommendations  from USCIS and State and provides this information to the Secretary  of Homeland Security to inform his or her decision regarding an initial  or existing TPS designation. Other DHS components and non-DHS  entities, including other agencies and nongovernmental organizations,  may also provide information to the Secretary or USCIS.  3.  The Secretary of Homeland Security receives the information and  recommendations and makes a decision about TPS for the country.  The Secretary exercises discretion in determining whether to initially  designate a country for TPS. For an existing designation, under the  INA, the Secretary is required to determine whether country  conditions warrant an extension of TPS or whether the country no  longer meets the statutory criteria and TPS must be terminated. Also,  the Secretary exercises discretion in determining whether to  redesignate a country that was previously designated for TPS.

Secretary of Homeland Security May Consider a Country for Initial TPS Designation in Response to Various Factors, and Statute Requires Subsequent Reviews

Various factors may trigger consideration of a country for an initial TPS  designation, according to USCIS officials. Officials stated that the  Secretary of Homeland Security’s consideration of a country for an initial  designation is discretionary. However, subsequent reviews of existing  designations are required by statute. See figure 5.

USCIS and State officials stated that for initial TPS designations, a  request from DHS, State, the White House, members of Congress, or  foreign governments may trigger consideration of whether to designate a  country on the basis of one or more of the three statutory categories (i.e.,  armed conflict, environmental disaster, or extraordinary and temporary  conditions). USCIS officials added that, under the INA, the Secretary of  Homeland Security has the sole authority to determine whether and when  to consider a country for an initial TPS designation. Further, they noted  that a request does not automatically result in a formal review of a country  for TPS even if the country has experienced country conditions specified  in one or more of the statutory categories, such as an armed conflict or  environmental disaster.

For subsequent reviews of existing TPS designations, at least 60 days  before the end of the designation period, the Secretary is required, after  consulting with other appropriate agencies, to undertake a review of the  conditions in the foreign country for which a designation is in effect.

DHS Collects Country Conditions Reports and Recommendations to Inform the Secretary’s TPS Decision

DHS collects similar information for each review of a country for TPS,  according to DHS officials and our review of selected decisions. DHS  officials identified four primary sources of information that the department  collects to inform the Secretary of Homeland Security’s TPS decisions:  country conditions reports compiled by USCIS and State and  recommendations from USCIS and State leadership. According to DHS  and State officials, DHS generally consults with State on TPS decisions,  although it is not specifically required to do so under the statute. Our  review of 26 TPS decisions for the eight selected countries found that  DHS collected the following documents to inform each decision:  1.  a country conditions report compiled by USCIS,  2.  a memo with a recommendation from the USCIS Director to the  Secretary of Homeland Security,  3.  a country conditions report compiled by State, and  4.  a letter with a recommendation from the Secretary of State to the  Secretary of Homeland Security.

USCIS manages and coordinates the TPS information-gathering process  for the Secretary of Homeland Security. While State formally provides its  input through the Secretary of State’s letter and recommendation to the  Secretary of Homeland Security, USCIS officials said that USCIS  generally incorporates the input from State into USCIS’s country  conditions report and recommendation on TPS. DHS officials noted that  other internal DHS components, government agencies, and other entities  may also provide information about country conditions or other factors to  inform the Secretary of Homeland Security’s decisions. Figure 6 shows  the information collected to support the Secretary of Homeland Security’s  TPS reviews.

USCIS officials indicated that the time frames for conducting TPS reviews  may vary. They noted that a review for an initial designation may have a  shorter time frame than a review for an existing designation, depending  on the situation. In addition, the officials noted that USCIS generally starts  the review process for an existing TPS designation about 6 months to a  year before the end date of the country’s current designation. They added  that they generally start the review process within this timeframe, given  the INA requirement that the Secretary of Homeland Security either  undertake a review and make a determination regarding country  conditions at least 60 days in advance of the prior designation’s end date  or automatically extend the designation for 6 months. According to  USCIS officials, at the start of a review for an initial or existing  designation, USCIS’s Office of Policy & Strategy generally reaches out to  USCIS’s Refugee, Asylum and International Operations Directorate  (RAIO) to request input on country conditions. USCIS officials also said  that the office coordinates with State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees,  and Migration regarding the target time frame for receiving State’s input.  In general, once USCIS receives the input from RAIO and State, USCIS  finalizes its country conditions report and recommendation memo for the  Secretary of Homeland Security.

Our review of documentation for the eight countries in our  nongeneralizable sample of 26 TPS decisions found variation in the time  frames for USCIS’s recommendation memos and for State’s  recommendation letters. For the 24 reviews of existing TPS designations,  USCIS provided recommendation memos to the Secretary of Homeland  Security about 2 to 7 months before the end date of the prior  designations. Most of State’s 26 recommendation letters were dated  about 2 days to 6 months before the USCIS recommendation memos.

RAIO officials noted that they use an internal template as informal  guidance for the draft country conditions reports that they compile for  USCIS’s Office of Policy & Strategy for reviews for initial or existing TPS  designations. We reviewed the RAIO template and found, for example,  that for reporting on a country being considered for a TPS designation on  the basis of an environmental disaster, the template includes sections  (e.g., several paragraphs) about the population harmed, damage to  infrastructure, disruption in services, and status of disaster response and  reconstruction. Officials added that country conditions reports may  deviate from the template, because its use is not required; instead, it  serves as general, informal guidance. RAIO officials also noted that  information in the country conditions reports they compile is generally  based on publicly available information or data related to country  conditions. According to the officials, sources for such information may  include U.S. agencies, foreign governments, international organizations,  nongovernmental organizations, and news articles.

According to State officials, after State initiates its internal process for  compiling information for the Secretary of Homeland Security’s TPS review, the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration generally  requests input internally from the relevant regional bureau and post  before compiling information for the Secretary of State’s consideration.  See the text box for more details of State’s internal process for  developing country conditions reports and recommendation letters to  inform the Secretary of Homeland Security’s TPS reviews.

State Department’s Internal Process for Compiling Information for the Secretary of Homeland Security’s Temporary  Protected Status Reviews  The Department of State’s (State) internal process for developing input for the Secretary of Homeland Security’s Temporary  Protected Status (TPS) reviews generally includes compiling information on country conditions as well as proposed  recommendations from the relevant regional bureau and overseas post, according to documentation for selected TPS  decisions in fiscal years 2014 through 2018 and our interviews with DHS, USCIS, and State officials. State’s Bureau of  Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) facilitates and coordinates State’s internal process for developing this input,  according to informal guidance, which State officials said the bureau has used at the working level since 2012, as well as our  interviews with State officials.

After DHS initiates a TPS review, PRM generally directs the relevant regional bureau to reach out to overseas posts for  information about country conditions, according to State officials. State officials noted that in some cases, the regional  bureau’s country desk officer takes the lead in drafting the country conditions report, depending on the country context.  Officials stated that the regional bureau generally uses a questionnaire on country conditions to request information from the  post for a TPS review and that the post generally also provides a recommendation, in addition to the questionnaire  responses, via cable or email to the regional bureau. For example, for a country that had an existing TPS designation based  on ongoing armed conflict in the country, a country conditions cable provided, among other things, information about the  status of the armed conflict, an assessment of whether the return of foreign nationals would pose a serious threat to their  personal safety and whether the country was unable to handle the return of nationals, and information about the impact of the  conflict on economic and humanitarian conditions. State and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) officials  noted that other agencies represented at the overseas posts, such as USAID, may provide information for a post’s input on  country conditions, including information gathered “on the ground” as well as from publicly available sources.

Once the regional bureau receives any input from post, the bureau desk officer prepares a draft country conditions report and  recommendation, and the regional bureau works with PRM to compile a joint action memo. PRM generally provides the joint  action memo, which includes a country conditions report, to the Secretary of State, according to State officials. The memo  may include a joint recommendation or varying recommendations (e.g., from PRM and the regional bureau) for the  Secretary’s consideration. After the Secretary determines what the department will recommend, State provides a final country  conditions report and recommendation letter to the Secretary of Homeland Security as well as to U.S. Citizenship and  Immigration Services’ Office of Policy & Strategy.

We found that the USCIS and State country conditions reports and  recommendation memos or letters that DHS and State provided for our  nongeneralizable sample of 26 TPS decisions included information such  as background on the cause (or reason for consideration) of the initial  TPS designation and a summary of the country’s recovery from, or the  status of, the situation to date. In addition, documentation provided to us  for some of the TPS decisions included other information, such as certain  economic indicators or broader country context. Specifically:

Cause and recovery or status. USCIS and State documentation for  each of the 26 TPS decisions in our review generally included (1)  information related to the cause (or reason for consideration) of the  initial TPS designation and (2) a summary of the country’s recovery  from, or the status of, the situation to date. For example,  documentation for a country designated on the basis of armed conflict  described the status of the conflict and ceasefire agreements;  provided information about violence against civilians and recruitment  of child soldiers; provided an update on civilian casualties since the  prior review; and described humanitarian challenges stemming from  the conflict, such as the risk of famine. For a country designated on  the basis of environmental disaster, documentation described the  status of investments in recovery and efforts to rebuild after the  disaster, including the number of houses and schools that had been  rebuilt or repaired. This documentation also included assessments of  disruption in living conditions and the extent to which economic  activity and basic services had been restored.

Economic indicators. USCIS documentation for 16 TPS decisions  and State documentation for 12 TPS decisions in our review included  information about economic indicators. Examples of such information  included an estimate of damages from an environmental disaster as a  percentage of a country’s gross domestic product, a summary of  growth in a country’s gross domestic product in recent years, and data  on the increase in food prices as a result of armed conflict in a  country.

Broader country context. USCIS documentation for 23 TPS  decisions in our review and State documentation for 20 TPS decisions  provided information about broader country context. For example,  documentation for a country designated on the basis of armed conflict  included broader context regarding topics such as recent natural  disasters and the country’s geography. As another example,  documentation for a country designated on the basis of environmental  disaster provided information about subsequent natural disasters as  well as violence, criminal activity, and corruption in the country.

In addition to USCIS and State, other DHS offices and components and  non-DHS entities may provide information to inform the Secretary’s  decision. DHS officials noted that such information varies, may be  solicited or unsolicited, and may be provided directly to the Secretary of  Homeland Security or to USCIS. We reviewed examples of such  information for several of the TPS decisions in our nongeneralizable  sample. This information included items such as  immigration data or intelligence analyses from other DHS offices and  components—for example, the Office of Immigration Statistics, U.S.  Customs and Border Protection, and U.S. Immigration and Customs  Enforcement; updates from the Department of Defense on the security situation in a  technical input from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  regarding the status of an epidemic; and  input from other entities, including letters from members of Congress,  foreign government officials, and nongovernmental organizations.

In addition, DHS officials stated that the Secretary of Homeland Security  may hold briefings or meetings on TPS reviews both internally and with  external entities, such as White House officials, foreign government  officials, and nongovernmental organizations or advocacy groups.

According to DHS officials, after USCIS and State compile their country  conditions reports and recommendations for the Secretary of Homeland  Security’s consideration, other DHS components—including the Office of  Strategy, Policy, and Plans; the Office of the General Counsel; and the  Management Directorate—review the documents as part of the standard  departmental clearance process before providing them to the Secretary.  Officials from these DHS components noted that the purpose of their  review is generally to provide relevant technical comments and ensure  that complete information has been gathered for the Secretary’s review.

Secretary of Homeland Security Makes a TPS Decision

According to USCIS officials, after receiving the information and  recommendations from USCIS and State, as well as information from any  other sources, the Secretary of Homeland Security makes a decision  regarding a country’s initial or existing TPS designation. USCIS officials  indicated that the Secretary’s decisions may not always follow the  recommendations of the USCIS Director or the Secretary of State. For  example, among the 26 TPS decisions from 2014 through 2018 that we  reviewed, the Secretary of Homeland Security’s decision was the same  as State’s recommendation in 21 cases and differed from State’s  recommendation in five cases.

Initial designation. USCIS officials stated that if the Secretary of  Homeland Security determines a country meets the statutory criteria  for designation, the Secretary may then exercise discretion in deciding  whether to initially designate the country for TPS.

Existing designation. According to USCIS officials, the Secretary of  Homeland Security exercises discretion in determining whether the  conditions in a country satisfy statutory conditions for retaining an  existing designation. However, the officials indicated that if the  Secretary determines that the conditions for TPS designation continue  to be met, the Secretary is required under the INA to extend the  designation. Additionally, USCIS officials stated that if the Secretary  determines a country no longer meets conditions for TPS designation,  the Secretary is required under the INA to terminate the designation.  Finally, USCIS officials stated that the Secretary may exercise  discretion in deciding to redesignate a country with an existing  designation and that factors such as a significant deterioration in  country conditions may weigh in favor of a redesignation.

Once the Secretary of Homeland Security decides whether to designate a  country or to extend or terminate TPS, the decision may be documented  through a signed memorandum or communicated orally to USCIS,  according to USCIS officials. DHS provided memorandums or notices  documenting the Secretary’s TPS decisions for all 26 decisions in our  nongeneralizable sample. After the Secretary makes a TPS decision,  DHS typically communicates the decision to State before announcing it to  the general public. Either DHS or State then communicates the decision  to the foreign embassy in Washington, D.C., and State may communicate  it to the foreign government overseas. Finally, under INA provisions  related to TPS, the Secretary’s decision is published in the Federal  Register (see fig. 7).

DHS Has Communicated TPS Decisions through Required Federal Register Notices but Provided Inconsistent Guidance on Employment Authorizations DHS Has Communicated TPS Decisions to the Public through Required Federal Register Notices and Other Mechanisms

Since 1990, all TPS decisions have been communicated to the public  through statutorily required notices in the Federal Register. DHS has  also used other mechanisms, including press releases and its website, to  help disseminate TPS-related information to the public.

We found that a Federal Register notice was published for all TPS  decisions, as required under the INA, from November 1990 to September  2019. In addition, DHS frequently used Federal Register notices as a  mechanism for communicating other related information, such as effective  dates for TPS designation periods, applicant registration periods, TPS  beneficiary eligibility requirements, and information about employment  authorization for beneficiaries. For example, the Federal Register notice  extending the TPS designation of El Salvador, published on July 8, 2016,  included the following:  summary information about the extension, such as the period of  extension and the start and end date of the extension; procedures and eligibility information for beneficiaries to register or  reregister for TPS and to apply for renewal of employment  authorization documents, including required forms and fees to register  or reregister; directions for obtaining additional information and help with questions  by accessing the USCIS website or by contacting an identified USCIS  official or a USCIS customer contact center; and general information about TPS as well as information about El  Salvador’s initial TPS designation and about the Secretary’s authority  and reason for extending TPS for El Salvador.

For a Federal Register notice of a TPS decision, according to USCIS  officials, USCIS generally takes about 2 weeks to draft the notice. DHS  then completes an internal review before submitting the notice to the  Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for interagency review,  according to officials. OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs  coordinates the notice review process, including gathering comments or  proposed revisions from relevant executive branch agencies. For  example, we reviewed examples of technical comments from the Centers  for Disease Control and Prevention regarding draft notices of TPS  decisions for the Ebola-affected countries that included information and  data on the status of the epidemic and an assessment of health care  infrastructure. According to USCIS officials, OMB comments are returned  to DHS without identifying the agency that made each comment, and  additional interagency review and comment may occur before DHS  publishes the notice in the Federal Register. USCIS officials also noted  that, under regulation, OMB can take up to 90 days to complete the interagency review, although the officials added that OMB aims to  complete the process in a timely manner for TPS notices and generally  takes about a month.

According to USCIS officials, to help raise awareness of TPS decisions,  USCIS has generally also issued press releases announcing all TPS  decisions and published them on its website in addition to publishing  Federal Register notices. Table 2 summarizes information from DHS’s  publication of a press release and Federal Register notice for a 2016 TPS  decision.

USCIS has also taken other steps to communicate TPS decisions and  related information to the public. USCIS has updated its TPS country- specific webpages with alerts about the latest TPS decisions and  registration periods, among other information. Further, according to  USCIS officials, the Office of Public Affairs hosted periodic national TPS  teleconferences for stakeholders and conducted outreach meetings to  respond to questions and discuss TPS information in communities where  there might be a large number of TPS beneficiaries. For example, a  teleconference invitation from USCIS to stakeholders to discuss the  extension of Haiti’s TPS designation in May 2017 indicated that USCIS  officials would share information about the TPS reregistration period and  procedures for eligible Haitian nationals and would respond to  stakeholder questions. Officials from USCIS’s Office of Public Affairs also  stated that the office has drafted guidance for communicating most TPS  decisions. We reviewed examples of the guidance, which included  planned time lines for publishing the press releases and information to  USCIS’s website as well as for conducting outreach to Congress,  stakeholder groups, and TPS beneficiaries.

DHS Published Most Federal Register Notices of Decisions on Existing TPS Designations before Previous Designations’ End Date

USCIS officials noted that once the Secretary of Homeland Security  makes a TPS decision, time frames for publishing the Federal Register  notice may vary. USCIS officials stated that, in an effort to ensure public  awareness of the decisions as soon as possible, USCIS has in some  cases published a press release before the Federal Register notice of a  decision was finalized and published.

In reviewing TPS decisions for existing designations (i.e., extensions,  terminations, and redesignations) in fiscal years 1990 through 2019, we  found the following:

About two-thirds of Federal Register notices announcing TPS  decisions for these existing designations were published at least 30  days before the end date of the previous designation period (100 of  158 total notices).

In fiscal years 1990 through 2005, 21 Federal Register notices  announcing TPS decisions for existing designations were published  after the end of the previous designation period.

In fiscal years 2006 through 2019, all 71 Federal Register notices  announcing TPS decisions for existing designations were published 4  to 159 days before the end date of the previous designation period.

USCIS Published Guidance Has Not Consistently Identified All Mechanisms Used to Communicate Automatic Extensions of TPS Employment Authorization Documents

Since 1990, two mechanisms—Federal Register notices and individually  mailed notifications, which TPS beneficiaries may use as evidence of  their eligibility for employment—have been used to communicate  automatic extensions of employment authorization documents. However,  USCIS’s published guidance has not consistently identified each of these  as official mechanisms to verify eligibility, resulting in confusion among  employers about TPS beneficiaries’ employment eligibility. The INA states  that DHS shall provide TPS beneficiaries with “an ‘employment  authorized’ endorsement or other appropriate work permit” but does not  specify the mechanisms that DHS should use to communicate TPS  employment authorization. To receive documentation of work  authorization, TPS beneficiaries generally apply for an employment  authorization document after an initial TPS designation and also after any  subsequent extensions or redesignations of TPS. See the text box for a  description of the process that TPS beneficiaries and employers must  follow to verify beneficiaries’ employment eligibility.

According to USCIS officials, USCIS aims to adjudicate both initial  employment authorization applications and renewal applications within 90  days after receiving an application. When it is unable to process the  adjudications in this time frame, USCIS issues automatic extensions of  expiring employment authorization documents for TPS beneficiaries from  a specific country, to allow time for USCIS to process the volume of  applications associated with a TPS reregistration period. In some  instances, USCIS may issue additional automatic extensions of  employment authorization documents for specific countries if it has been  unable to process all pending applications within the initial automatic  extension period, according to USCIS officials.

When employment authorization documents are automatically extended  for eligible TPS beneficiaries, the documents may appear to have expired  even though they remain valid. According to USCIS officials, DHS has  used the Federal Register notices announcing TPS decisions to  communicate most automatic extensions of TPS employment  authorization documents. For example, on January 17, 2017, DHS  published a Federal Register notice extending the TPS designation of  Somalia for 18 months and, in the same notice, automatically extended  for 6 months the validity of employment authorization documents issued  under Somalia’s TPS designation. DHS has also communicated  automatic extensions of TPS employment authorization documents  through Federal Register notices independent of a TPS decision.  Generally, Federal Register notices announcing automatic extensions of  TPS employment authorization documents include instructions for  employers for completing the Form I-9, among other things. Additionally,  some notices state that, to reduce employer confusion regarding  automatic extensions of TPS employment authorization documents,  beneficiaries should explain the extension to their employer and may also  provide their employer with a copy of the relevant Federal Register notice.

In five cases, beginning in fiscal year 2018, USCIS mailed notifications of  automatic extensions of employment authorization documents to  thousands of TPS beneficiaries from Haiti, El Salvador, Syria, and  Honduras as an alternative or a supplement to posting the information in  Federal Register notices. USCIS officials told us that in these cases,  they mailed individual notifications of the automatic extensions to ensure  that the beneficiaries would not experience any gaps in employment  authorization. According to the officials, they began this practice because  of the large number of affected beneficiaries. Our examination of USCIS  documents found that in four of these five cases, USCIS mailed individual  notifications to the TPS beneficiaries without also posting a Federal  Register notice communicating the automatic extension.

In all five cases, USCIS published guidance on its website to inform TPS  beneficiaries and employers about the use of individually mailed  notifications to communicate employment authorization document  extensions. USCIS’s website states that TPS beneficiaries may present  the Federal Register notice or individually mailed notification to their  employer along with their expired employment authorization documents to  show proof of continued employment authorization. The individual  notifications also state that beneficiaries may show the notifications, along  with the expired employment authorization document, to any U.S.  employer as proof of continued employment authorization.

However, a USCIS handbook for employers and related guidance do not  specifically identify the individually mailed notifications as an official  means of communicating these extensions.

USCIS’s Handbook for Employers: Guidance for Completing Form I-9  (M-274) provides guidance for employers on how to properly complete  Form I-9, which helps employers verify that individuals are authorized  to work in the United States. The handbook contains a section about  automatic employment authorization document extensions for TPS  beneficiaries that references USCIS’s use of Federal Register notices  to inform the public of these extensions. However, the handbook for  employers does not mention USCIS’s use of individually mailed  notifications to communicate the automatic extensions.

USCIS’s Instructions for Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification  notes that certain employees, including TPS beneficiaries, may  present an expired employment authorization document, which may  be considered unexpired if the document has been extended by  USCIS. The guidance also notes that employees should enter the  expiration date of an automatic extension on Form I-9. However, the  instructions for Form I-9 do not detail USCIS’s mechanisms for  communicating these extensions, including its use of individually  mailed notifications.

Some employers have reportedly refused to accept expired employment  authorization documents as proof of work authorization when the  documents had been automatically extended. For example, the  Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division telephone interventions  website indicates that on approximately 50 occasions from September  2017 through May 2019, the Immigrant and Employee Rights Section  intervened to deter employers or medical licensing boards from rejecting  valid work authorization documents and, in some cases, from terminating  employment for TPS beneficiaries whose employment authorization  documents had been automatically extended. Also, a letter to USCIS  signed by 70 law professors and scholars states that some legal service  providers have reported instances of employers’ terminating TPS  beneficiaries’ employment because the employer did not understand or  accept the individually mailed notifications. Further, USCIS has received  feedback from certain stakeholders concerned that beneficiaries might  not be receiving the individual notifications in time to avoid any potential  gaps in work authorization, according to USCIS officials.

USCIS officials told us that the Federal Register process may be  beneficial for communicating employment authorization in some cases  but that they may also continue to use the individually mailed notifications as a mechanism to communicate future extensions, depending on the  circumstances. USCIS has acknowledged the potential benefits of  updating external guidance regarding automatic extensions of TPS  employment authorization documents. However, as of December 2019,  USCIS had not taken action to do so. Replying to a letter of concern from  an advocacy group, USCIS stated that it could consider updating the  handbook for employers to add additional guidance regarding individually  mailed notifications.

Effective information and communication are vital for an entity to achieve  its objectives. According to Standards for Internal Control in the Federal  Government, management should document policies in the appropriate  level of detail and externally communicate the necessary quality  information to achieve an entity’s objectives. Updating external  guidance, such as the employer handbook, to clearly identify each of the  official mechanisms that USCIS may use to communicate automatic  extensions of TPS employment authorization documents could help  USCIS ensure that employers understand and accept each of its official  mechanisms for communicating these automatic extensions. This, in turn,  would help to reduce the risk of employers’ terminating beneficiaries from  their jobs as a result of confusion caused by unclear or inconsistent  guidance.

The Secretary of Homeland Security has granted TPS, providing work  authorization and protection from removal, to foreign nationals from 22  countries since TPS was established in 1990. DHS has generally  communicated information about employment authorization for TPS  beneficiaries in a Federal Register notice, although in some cases USCIS  used individually mailed notifications to communicate automatic  extensions of employment authorization documents. However, USCIS’s  published guidance has not consistently identified individually mailed  notifications as a mechanism that may be used, leading to confusion  about beneficiaries’ employment eligibility and reportedly resulting in  termination of some beneficiaries’ employment. Consistent published  guidance that clearly identifies each of the mechanisms used to  communicate automatic extensions of TPS employment authorization  documents could help USCIS ensure that employers understand and  accept the evidence USCIS provides for employment authorization,  reducing the risk of erroneous termination of beneficiaries’ employment.

The Director of USCIS should update published guidance, such as  Handbook for Employers: Guidance for Completing Form I-9 (M-274), to  consistently identify each of the official mechanisms that USCIS may use  to communicate automatic extensions of TPS employment authorization  documents.  (Recommendation 1)

We provided a draft of this report to DHS, State, the Department of  Defense, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S.  Agency for International Development for review and comment. In its  written comments, reproduced in appendix III, DHS agreed with our  recommendation and noted planned actions to implement it, including  updating guidance in DHS’s M-274 handbook. DHS’s planned actions will  address the intent of our recommendation if they include updating  guidance regarding each of the official mechanisms that USCIS may use  to communicate automatic extensions of TPS employment authorization  documents, including the use of individually mailed notifications. The U.S.  Agency for International Development also provided written comments,  which are reproduced in appendix IV. In addition, DHS and State  provided technical comments that we incorporated as appropriate. The  Department of Defense and the Department of Health and Human  Services did not provide comments.

We are sending copies of this report to the appropriate congressional  committees, and the Acting Secretary of Homeland Security and  Secretary of State, as well as the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of  Health and Human Services, the Director of the Centers for Disease  Control and Prevention, and the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for  International Development.

If you or your staff have any questions about this report, please contact  Chelsa Gurkin at (202) 512-2964 or GurkinC@gao.gov, or Rebecca  Gambler at (202) 512-6912 or GamblerR@gao.gov. Contact points for  our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found  on the last page of this report. GAO staff who made major contributions to  this reports are listed in appendix V.

Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

Our objectives were to (1) describe Temporary Protected Status (TPS)  determinations and numbers of beneficiaries since TPS was established  in 1990; (2) describe the approach that the Department of Homeland  Security (DHS), in consultation with the Department of State (State) and  other relevant agencies, takes to inform the Secretary of Homeland  Security’s TPS reviews; and (3) examine DHS’s public communication  regarding TPS decisions and related information, including work  authorization.

To describe TPS determinations since TPS was established in 1990, we  reviewed information and data in Federal Register notices for all TPS  designations in fiscal years 1990 through 2019. Specifically, we reviewed  the designation time frames and bases (i.e., ongoing armed conflict,  environmental disaster, or extraordinary and temporary conditions) for  each designation since TPS was established. We also analyzed U.S.  Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data on numbers of TPS  beneficiaries for fiscal years 1990 through 2018. In addition, we analyzed  USCIS data on TPS beneficiaries’ characteristics, such as numbers,  location, age, and gender of foreign nationals granted TPS, for fiscal year  2018.

To assess the reliability of USCIS data on TPS beneficiaries, we reviewed  documentation and interviewed USCIS officials to identify and rectify any  missing or erroneous data. According to USCIS officials, USCIS removes  from its data on TPS beneficiaries any who become U.S. citizens or  whose status is withdrawn, either because they no longer meet eligibility  requirements or because they requested that USCIS withdraw their  status. However, according to officials, the data may include foreign  nationals who have since died, moved out of the country, or have an  additional immigration status. Additionally, because the data comprise  information provided by TPS applicants, the data may include a small  number of applicant errors, according to officials. We determined that the  data for fiscal years 2000 through 2018 were sufficiently reliable to  provide general information about the size and characteristics of TPS  beneficiaries. USCIS was not able to provide reliable data on numbers of  TPS beneficiaries before fiscal year 2000 because, according to USCIS  officials, these data were not consistently entered electronically in USCIS  information systems.

To describe the approach that DHS, in consultation with State and other  relevant agencies, takes to inform the Secretary of Homeland Security’s  TPS reviews, we reviewed provisions in the Immigration and Nationality  Act (INA) related to TPS as well as DHS and State documentation, such  as informal guidance documents used since fiscal year 2014 or earlier  regarding steps taken for a TPS review. We also conducted interviews  with DHS and State officials related to the processes they have used to  collect information for TPS reviews since fiscal year 2014. Specifically, we  interviewed DHS officials from U.S. Customs and Border Protection; the  U.S. Coast Guard; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; the  Management Directorate; the Office of the Executive Secretary; the Office  of Intelligence and Analysis; the Office of Legislative Affairs; the Office of  Partnership and Engagement; the Office of Public Affairs; the Office of  Strategy, Policy, and Plans, including the Office of Immigration Statistics;  and USCIS—in particular, USCIS’s Office of Policy and Strategy and  USCIS’s Refugees, Asylum, and International Operations Directorate. We  interviewed State officials from the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and  Migration and several regional bureaus, including desk officers from the  Bureaus of African Affairs, Near Eastern Affairs, South and Central Asian  Affairs, and Western Hemisphere Affairs. We also interviewed State  officials from overseas posts for countries that we selected for our review,  including El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Sudan, and Yemen.

We reviewed documentation that DHS and State provided for a  judgmental, nongeneralizable sample of eight countries for which DHS  rendered TPS decisions in fiscal years 2014 through 2018 (El Salvador,  Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen); the TPS  decisions for these eight countries represented 26 of a total of 42 TPS  decisions for 13 countries in that period. We selected this sample to  represent a range of decision types and designation reasons, among  other factors. While this sample cannot be generalized to the countries or  decisions we did not review, it provided valuable information about the  approach that DHS uses for TPS reviews. The primary documents that  we reviewed for each decision included information about country  conditions that USCIS and State had compiled and recommendations that  USCIS and State leadership had provided to the Secretary of Homeland  Security. Some of the documents that we received had been redacted  because of ongoing litigation related to TPS. Table 3 provides additional  details of the decisions in our judgmental sample.

In addition, we reviewed examples of other information that may be  provided for a TPS review, including examples of input from other DHS  components, other U.S. agencies, the White House, members of  Congress, foreign governments, and nongovernmental organizations.  Specifically, we received examples of this type of information for each of  the eight countries in our judgmental, nongeneralizable sample,  representing 15 of the 26 TPS decisions. For example, this information  included immigration data and internal intelligence analyses compiled by  DHS’s Office of Immigration Statistics, U.S. Customs and Border  Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Office of  Intelligence and Analysis. We also reviewed examples of updates  provided by senior Department of Defense officials for the Secretary of  Homeland Security regarding the security situation in a country; technical  input from the Department of Health and Human Services Centers for  Disease Control and Prevention about the status of an epidemic in a  country; and information from the U.S. Agency for International  Development about country conditions on the ground. In addition, we  interviewed officials from these three agencies regarding the types of  information that they may provide for TPS reviews. Further, we reviewed  examples of letters from members of Congress, foreign government  officials, and nongovernmental organizations related to TPS reviews.  Moreover, we reviewed examples of briefing or meeting agendas and  related materials for internal and external briefings, including external  briefings with White House officials, foreign government officials, and  nongovernmental organizations.

To examine DHS’s public communication regarding TPS decisions and  related information, including work authorization, we reviewed DHS’s  public communications related to TPS, including Federal Register notices,  press releases, and USCIS’s website, among other information. We  analyzed information in Federal Register notices published from  November 29, 1990, through October 1, 2019 (the most recent available  at the time of our review), to determine the timing of notices for TPS  decisions and the types of information included in the notices. We  reviewed examples of USCIS’s Office of Public Affairs guidance for public  communication of TPS decisions. We also interviewed USCIS officials  regarding the mechanisms that DHS used to communicate TPS decisions  and related information, including DHS’s process for drafting and  publishing Federal Register notices.

Further, we examined DHS’s guidance and procedures as of fiscal year  2019 for communicating TPS employment authorization, including  automatic extensions of employment authorization. We reviewed USCIS’s  public communications related to automatic extensions of TPS  employment authorization for both beneficiaries and employers in Federal  Register notices, individually mailed notifications, an employer handbook,  and information published on USCIS’s website. We interviewed USCIS  officials regarding USCIS’s approach to communicating TPS employment  authorization, including automatic extensions. We also reviewed  information from the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division’s website  related to confusion over automatic extensions of employment  authorization documents for TPS beneficiaries. Additionally, we reviewed  a letter to USCIS signed by 70 law professors and scholars related to  instances of employers terminating TPS beneficiaries. Finally, we  compared DHS’s guidance and procedures with federal internal control  standards related to documenting policies and externally communicating  information.

We conducted this performance audit from September 2018 to March  2020 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing  standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to  obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for  our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe  that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings  and conclusions based on our audit objectives.

Appendix II: Numbers and Characteristics of Temporary Protected Status Beneficiaries, Fiscal Years 2000-2018

Table 4 lists the numbers of TPS beneficiaries, by country of citizenship,  in fiscal years 2000 through 2018. During this period, the country with the  largest number of TPS beneficiaries in any given fiscal year was El  Salvador, with 262,262 in fiscal year 2010; followed by Honduras, with  85,759 in fiscal year 2007; and Haiti, with 58,294 in fiscal year 2014. In  contrast, during the same period, Montserrat had the smallest maximum  number of TPS beneficiaries in any given fiscal year, with a maximum of  21 in fiscal year 2004; followed by Angola, with a maximum of 47 in fiscal  year 2002; and Burundi, with a maximum of 50 in fiscal year 2007.

Appendix III: Comments from Department of Homeland Security

Appendix IV: Comments from U.S. Agency for International Development

Appendix V: GAO Contacts and Staff Acknowledgments

In addition to the contacts named above, Miriam Carroll Fenton and  Taylor Matheson (Assistant Directors), Elisabeth Helmer, Cristina  Norland, Ben DeYoung, Martin De Alteriis, Neil Doherty, Jenny Grover,  Reid Lowe, Mary Moutsos, Jan Montgomery, Jon Najmi, Nicole Willems,  and Bailey Wong made key contributions to this report. Alana Miller and  Danielle Rudstein provided technical assistance.

The Secretary of Homeland Security may designate a foreign country for Temporary Protected Status if conditions prevent the country’s nationals from returning safely. Under this status, eligible foreign nationals can temporarily stay and work in the U.S.

Work authorization lasts as long as the status, but the documents proving it can expire. The Department of Homeland Security gives extensions and recently notified people about them via letter.

Not all of DHS’s guidance tells employers that letters are acceptable proof of authorization; some people reportedly lost jobs over this.

We recommended consistent communication about work authorizations.