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The pace of change in employment authorization policy has long been relentless, but the developments of the last several days have been particularly significant. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released updated guidance, courts permitted several Temporary Protected Status (TPS) terminations to proceed, and a stay was denied in litigation challenging the TPS provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA).
Judge Lifts Haiti Stay; USCIS Issues Additional Guidance
On August 5, 2026, Judge Reyes of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued an order lifting the pause on the termination of TPS for Haiti. As a result, employers must immediately reverify any affected employee. Employers should consult counsel if an affected employee cannot produce alternative evidence of continuing work authorization.
As noted in our prior update, USCIS has directed employers to reverify work authorization for employees from Haiti, Syria and Yemen. Unlike Haiti and Yemen, however, the court in the Syria case has not formally lifted the underlying stays, creating tension between the litigation posture and USCIS’s guidance treating both designations as terminated.
Early in the evening on August 6, 2026, USCIS issued updated guidance for Temporary Protected Status beneficiaries from South Sudan and Ethiopia, extending the ‘placeholder dates‘ for Form I-9 completion and E-Verify case creation to August 10 and August 19, respectively. For the remaining countries (Burma (Myanmar) and Somalia), USCIS will likely issue new, updated placeholders while litigation plays out, and, notably, Burma’s current placeholder date is today, August 7, 2026, so employers should watch for an update.
The recent USCIS notices state the following “TPS beneficiaries for these countries will keep their status and employment authorization, and their documentation will remain valid per the court order. Forms I-766, Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) with category A12 or C19 remain valid and are extended. The extension is limited relief until the lower courts align with the U.S. Supreme Court’s favorable decision in Mullin v. Doe, 609 U.S. ____ (2026), issued on June 25, 2026.”
Unanswered questions remain about enforcement and potential further guidance or court action. We are monitoring developments and will provide updates as warranted.
TPS Provisions in OBBBA Survive Legal Challenge
On August 5, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts issued an order allowing the OBBBA provisions restricting TPS EAD duration to take effect. As a result, TPS EAD holders from Ukraine, El Salvador, and Sudan must either have a date-valid EAD (meaning the EAD has an expiration date after July 22, 2026 on the face of the card) or must be reverified immediately. They cannot rely on the EAD extension combination (EAD plus Form I-797C showing timely renewal filing) to work past July 22, 2026. Employers should immediately identify potentially affected employees and determine whether reverification is required.
By way of background, a set of provisions in the OBBBA restricted the duration of Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) for TPS applicants and beneficiaries to one year or the duration of the TPS designation, whichever is shorter. In practice, this meant that USCIS could not issue EADs in category code A12 or C19 with a validity period in excess of one year, and that EAD extensions could not exceed one year or the duration of the TPS designation, whichever is shorter. We have detailed this in prior posts on August 15, 2025, July 17, 2026, July 21, 2026, and most recently on July 27, 2026. On July 21, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts issued an order temporarily preventing these provisions from going into effect. However this relief was short-lived, as the August 5th ruling reversed that pause and cleared the way for implementation.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
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