DHS Adds Yemen to the Temporary Protected Status List

By David North on September 3, 2015

The Department of Homeland Security today added Yemen to the list of countries that have Temporary Protected Status for their citizens – legal or illegal – in the United States, bringing that list to a baker's dozen.

The ruling is effective as of midnight tonight, so that Yemenis in Canada and Mexico (if there are any) can rush to the border to participate. As usual, there is no need to be in legal status in the United States to benefit from this program.

This latest TPS declaration relates to the civil war in Yemen, and presumably our participation in it. A Shi'a faction is defeating the sitting government, which is an ally to both the United States and Saudi Arabia. We have been busy using drones to kill the leaders of the revolting faction, or maybe that's factions.

TPS aliens cannot be deported, but can work legally in the United States. For most countries on the TPS list that status is rolled over, again and again, at 18-month intervals. For more on this program see the recent CIS report "Leaving TPS Doesn't Necessarily Mean Going Home". The Federal Register notice can be seen here.

I suspect that this decision will cause a number of illegal aliens in the Detroit area to sign up for TPS status, as that city is the center of the Yemeni community in the United States.