The Post Mullin v. Doe TPS Landscape: Systemic Risk And The Emerging Relief Toolkit

Last week, we provided an overview of the U.S. Supreme Court’s holding in Mullin v. Doe, in which the Court concluded that most decisions by the Secretary of Homeland Security to designate or terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) are not subject to judicial review.

Previous guidance from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) indicated that Haitian and Syrian TPS holders’ work authorization may end on July 1.

Yesterday, the agency provided some limited guidance amending that date to July 10. USCIS also indicated that those impacted should regularly check the USCIS TPS webpages for each country for updates. This uncertainty may force employers to navigate it for weeks: USCIS could update their website guidance at any point with a new date, other legal challenges may surface, and, in some cases, where the government previously agreed to extend TPS to several countries through the fall of 2026, there is further uncertainty regarding an applicable termination date.

The July 1 Update: Who Was Impacted?

Following the Supreme Court’s decision in Mullin v. Doe, on July 1, USCIS updated the work authorization deadline for seven countries whose designations were terminated: Burma, Ethiopia, Haiti, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. Each update extended work authorization for TPS holders from each country until July 10. As such, employers should consider their TPS-holder employees as work authorized for the time being. Importantly, this extension is not a long-term continuation of TPS benefits, but a short-term administrative stopgap while the lower courts unwind existing injunctions and DHS attempts to implement the Supreme Court’s ruling.

Effective immediately, employers must update their impacted employees’ Form I-9s. For each employee, Klasko recommends the following approach:

1. Section 2 Remediation.
   1. Expiration Date:remediate to “07/10/2026”
2. Memo to File.
   1. Add the following memorandum to each file: “Pursuant to DHS guidance, the employee related to the attached I-9 file has presented an Employment Authorization Document with validity extended through 07/10/2026, per court order, as demonstrated by the enclosed documentation.”
3. Upload Documents.
   1. Upload the necessary documents package entitled “Documentation of TPS Expiration (7.10.2026)”

Given how quickly the government could issue new guidance, we recommend that employers consider reverifying affected employees’ Form I-9s at regular intervals during this time. If you would like guidance to discuss how to update the I-9s of affected employees based on the agreed-upon approach, please reach out to your Klasko attorney contact.

This guidance could change at any time if USCIS updates its website. We are monitoring the site closely and will notify clients promptly if the agency’s position changes.

How Mullin v. Doe Threatens TPS Across Other Countries

Although Mullin v. Doe directly addressed TPS designations for Syria and Haiti, its reasoning likely applies across the TPS framework. Previously, TPS terminations were frequently challenged under the Administrative Procedure Act and often enjoined nationwide, sometimes at the last moment. Following Mullin, however, DHS retains near‑unreviewable discretion to terminate TPS designations, and courts are largely foreclosed from second‑guessing those decisions.

The practical effect is significant: nationals from TPS‑designated countries, including Burma, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Lebanon, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Ukraine, Venezuela, and Yemen, now face an increased risk of termination without being able to challenge those decisions in court.

TPS-holders from South Sudan, Somalia, Burma/Myanmar, Ethiopia, and Venezuela, where the government had agreed to stay litigation pending the outcome of Mullin, should be vigilant in the coming weeks. For TPS-holders from these countries, district court orders kept TPS in place pending the outcome of Mullin, but now that Mullin has been decided it is likely that USCIS will attempt to roll back TPS for those protected. However, it is important to note that the Supreme Court’s decision in Mullin does not become final for 32 days from the judgment (absent a shortened timeline or stipulation between the parties), so increased vigilance is important during this time.

Employers of TPS-holders from El Salvador, Ukraine, Sudan, and Lebanon, also need to be vigilant and should not assume that the currently announced TPS expiration dates will remain unchanged. While USCIS has extended TPS protections for these countries into late 2026, Mullin gives the agency considerably greater flexibility to reconsider those designations and limits the ability of courts to delay or block future termination decisions. Employers should continue to monitor USCIS’ website and this page for more country-specific TPS developments.

Systemic Consequences: Strain on USCIS and Enforcement Infrastructure

The consequences of widespread TPS termination extend beyond TPS holders themselves and are likely to create system‑wide strain.

As an increasing number of TPS holders lose work authorization, hundreds of thousands of individuals may simultaneously seek alternative forms of relief, including asylum, cancellation of removal, adjustment of status, motions practice, and adjudications through USCIS. The immigration courts¹ and USCIS², which are already operating with significant backlogs, would be required to absorb this surge without corresponding increases in capacity, and, in fact, with having lost capacity.

At the same time, many individuals who lack viable affirmative relief may be placed into removal proceedings before the immigration courts, further exacerbating an already strained system and potentially delaying adjudications for years.

For those TPS holders without immediate relief, increased enforcement activity may result in additional detention, only placing further pressure on already limited detention resources.

Rather than reducing administrative burden, large‑scale TPS termination risks shifting a stable, work‑authorized population into a fragmented, high‑volume adjudicatory and enforcement pipeline, increasing inefficiencies throughout the system.

Considerations for TPS Recipients

In the post‑Mullin environment, the focus must shift from reliance on TPS to proactive identification of alternative relief.

Relief will depend on individualized forms of protection, including:

• asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT protection;
• cancellation of removal;
• adjustment of status through family or employment‑based petitions (including screening for eligibility under INA 245(i) for certain very long-term TPS holders);
• adjustment of status under NACARA and HRIFA (for certain Nicaraguans, Salvadorans, or Haitians with very long-term presence in the United States); or
• victim‑based relief such as U visas (Form I‑918), T visas (Form I‑914), and VAWA self‑petitions (Form I‑360).

Motions to reopen past proceedings may also allow individuals to revive previously denied or foreclosed claims under certain statutory or equitable exceptions.

These avenues are highly fact‑specific, procedurally complex, and cannot address large populations uniformly, underscoring the absence of a scalable alternative to TPS.

Considerations for Employers

• Evaluate each employee individually; some TPS beneficiaries may possess another form of employment authorization or immigration status independent of TPS.
• Reverify impacted employees’ Form I-9 documentation as soon as possible.
• Include a package of documents, including the SAVE page related to the impacted country, and a copy of Mullin v. Doe, attached to the I-9, as evidence of the employee’s continued work authorization.
• Monitor USCIS and DHS announcements for updated employment authorization and reverification guidance.

How Klasko Can Help

At Klasko Immigration Law Partners, we understand that these developments are not abstract legal shifts, and that they have immediate consequences for individuals, families, and employers who have relied on TPS for long‑term stability. We also recognize that the effects extend beyond TPS holders, as increased system strain leads to longer processing times, increased competition for resources, and greater uncertainty for all applicants.

Our team combines deep experience in federal immigration litigation with a practical, client‑focused approach to identifying viable pathways forward.

Mullin v. Doe and the current Administration’s policy preferences represent a fundamental shift in the TPS framework, transforming it from a relatively stable humanitarian protection into one that is subject to rapid change. As TPS becomes less predictable, individuals and employers must take proactive steps to secure more durable alternatives.

Footnotes

1. TRAC data indicates that in 2026, there are approximately 3,241,899 cases in the immigration court backlog. Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) is a nonpartisan, independent data research organization based at Syracuse University that provides detailed, up-to-date information on US immigration enforcement and court systems.

2. In April 2026, the American Immigration Council created a new dashboard that compiles publicly available USCIS data. The Council’s analysis of the data shows that the USCIS backlog has more than tripled over the last decade, from 3.5 million cases in the first quarter of FY2016 (October–December 2015) to 11.6 million in the fourth quarter of FY2025 (July–September 2025). The American Immigration Council is a non-profit, non-partisan organization.