File Photo: US Department of Homeland Security. AFP
In a statement, DHS said conditions in Syria “no longer prevent their nationals from returning home” and that it was “contrary to our national interest to allow Syrians to remain”.
The Hill reported that spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin described Syria as “a hotbed of terrorism and extremism for nearly two decades”, adding that TPS was always meant to be temporary.
The decision means Syrians without another legal basis to stay in the US will lose protection once their TPS expires in about 60 days. They could then be detained or deported by federal immigration authorities.
On Friday, the Trump administration advised Syrians enrolled in the TPS programme to “self-deport” from the US using its CBP Home smartphone app, according to CBS News.
TPS for Syria was first designated in 2012 under Barack Obama following the outbreak of civil war and was repeatedly extended, including by the first Trump administration.
As of March 2025, about 4,000 Syrians in the US are covered by the TPS programme, according to government data.
Syria’s conflict, which began in 2011, has killed more than half a million people and displaced over 13 million, according to the US Institute of Peace.
Although Bashar al-Assad was ousted last year, large parts of the country remain unstable, with Reuters reporting on Friday that Syria still contains “a lawless frontier under the control of armed groups with scores to settle.” In tandem, sectarian violence continues.
TPS, created by Congress in 1990, allows people from countries hit by conflict or disaster to live and work in the US legally, but it does not provide a path to permanent residency.
The Biden administration had expanded TPS to a record number of migrants from crisis-hit countries, including many who crossed the US southern border without authorization.
The current Trump administration, by contrast, has moved to roll back most designations, targeting nationals from Afghanistan, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
Immigrant rights groups have called the effort the largest “de-documentation” campaign in US history and have challenged the terminations in federal courts.
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