TPS for El Salvador: The Legal Fine Print That Could Block Its Cancellation and Trigger a 6-Month Extension

As TPS for El Salvador reaches its designated expiration date today, September 9, a crucial procedural oversight has emerged. Under federal law, DHS was required to publish a formal notice 60 days in advance—a step that was never taken. This missing Federal Register notice triggers an automatic 6-month extension under INA § 244, leaving over 170,000 Salvadorans in legal limbo while advocacy groups prepare immediate court challenges to halt any cancellation. (Credit: Illustration by Miguel Paiva / Latin Times)

The Brief

• USCIS and E-Verify guidance tells employers to treat September 9 as the end of El Salvador's Temporary Protected Status, but the Department of Homeland Security never published the Federal Register notice the law requires to make a termination official, and missing that filing window is supposed to trigger an automatic six-month extension.
• June's 6-3 Supreme Court ruling in Mullin v. Doe stripped courts of most power to block TPS terminations, but the case decided only Haiti and Syria's status, leaving El Salvador's designation in a legally distinct position.
• More than 170,000 Salvadorans currently hold TPS, though roughly 232,000 were eligible to re-register under the 2025 extension; either count leaves well over 150,000 U.S.-citizen children with a Salvadoran parent on TPS.
• President Nayib Bukele hasn't spoken publicly about TPS since 2020, even as beneficiaries protested outside his July 16 meeting with President Trump, and his government has announced no dedicated plan for absorbing a wave of returnees.