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October 7, 2026
More than a million people are losing Temporary Protected Status, and many are students or parents of students. Help your class explore how TPS works and who decides when “temporary” runs out.
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The American Immigration Council reports that about 1.3 million people living in the United States held temporary protected status, or TPS, in March 2025. Since then, the federal government has moved to end it for more than a million of them, including roughly 330,000 Haitians and 600,000 Venezuelans. By late August 2026, just four countries still had active designations.
Many of the people affected are students or the parents of students. In New York, a youth coordinator told Gothamist that five students he'd spoken with had decided not to enroll in school at all. In Florida, WLRN reported that Broward County's school superintendent named Haitian TPS as one of his biggest concerns for the nation's sixth-largest district.
So, what is TPS, and who gets to decide when “temporary” runs out?
In this lesson, students will learn how the program works and hear from people on different sides of the debate in Springfield, Ohio. Then they'll look closely at how the story is being told.
Some of the students in your room may hold TPS, have a parent who does, or be worried about a friend who does. You may not know which students they are, and that’s OK. Plan the conversation so no one has to share anything personal to take part.
Here are a few guidelines, adapted from Colorín Colorado's When Temporary Protected Status Ends: What Schools Need to Know.
Share My Lesson has three AFT resources that can help, each with a different job:
For staff discussion, this Colorín Colorado resource on Share My Lesson also includes a two-page handout with case examples and reflection questions.
For ongoing support, Share My Lesson’s CARE community (Community Awareness, Readiness, and Education) gathers free AFT preparedness resources for schools and families in one place, including everything above.
Runtime: 9 minutes, 28 seconds. A full transcript is available on the PBS page.
In June, the Supreme Court cleared the way for the federal government to end TPS for Haitians and Syrians. This report visits Springfield, Ohio, where thousands of Haitians settled within the past six years, as these protections expire. Students will hear from Haitian residents and advocates, a local Republican Party leader, an aid worker in Haiti, and a former Department of Homeland Security official who supports ending the program.
While you watch, keep track of:
Teacher tip: If you're short on time, pause at the midpoint for a quick turn-and-talk. Students who'd benefit from reading along, including English language learners, can follow the transcript.
Temporary protected status (TPS)—A U.S. program that lets people from certain countries live and work here temporarily when it is’t safe to go home because of war, natural disaster, or other emergencies. It doesn't lead to a green card or citizenship.
Designation—The government’s decision to add a country to the TPS program. Each designation lasts a set time and has to be reviewed before it expires.
Extension vs. termination—When a designation is about to expire, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) decides whether to extend it or end it. Termination means the protections stop on a set date.
Work permit (EAD)—Short for employment authorization document. TPS holders get one so they can work legally, and it expires when their TPS ends.
Deportation—When the government removes someone from the country. People who lose TPS usually go back to whatever status they had before, which for many means no legal status at all.
Plyler v. Doe—A 1982 Supreme Court decision that says public schools can’t deny K-12 students an education because of their immigration status.
Congress created TPS in the Immigration Act of 1990 for people already in the U.S. whose home country faces armed conflict, an environmental disaster, or other extraordinary conditions. TPS holders get a work permit and protection from deportation, but the program offers no path to permanent residency.
So, who decides when it ends? Congress wrote the law, but the Department of Homeland Security runs it. DHS reviews each country’s designation and must decide at least 60 days before it expires whether to extend or end it.
“Temporary” has sometimes lasted a long time. El Salvador’s current designation dates back to two earthquakes in 2001, making it the longest-running TPS designation in U.S. history. Haiti’s designation followed the 2010 earthquake. Many recipients have lived here for well over a decade, and many have children who are U.S. citizens.
Since early 2025, the Trump administration has moved to end TPS for 13 countries. In June 2026, the Supreme Court allowed it to end TPS for Haitians and Syrians, and their work permits expired in late July.
Schools are feeling it as employers, too. WFTV reported that Orange County Public Schools in Florida lost nearly 50 employees after the ruling.
The administration argues that temporary should mean temporary. In a statement to PBS NewsHour, DHS said TPS had been allowed to work like a de facto amnesty even though Congress never meant it to be permanent. In the same segment, former acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf argues that the 2010 earthquake, the original reason for Haiti’s TPS, no longer applies.
Supporters of TPS holders argue that conditions in many of these countries are still unsafe, and that ending protections now would separate families who have built lives here for years. Several members of Congress from both parties have urged the administration to extend protections or find a longer-term solution.
El Salvador’s designation, which covers about 170,000 people, was set to end on Sept. 9. DHS hasn’t announced a decision. For now, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services says Salvadoran TPS holders keep their protection and work permits until an announcement is made.
Sudan and Ukraine's designations run through Oct. 19, 2026, and Lebanon's through Nov. 27, 2026.
Who’s in the frame? Look back at your list of everyone interviewed in the PBS segment. Whose perspectives are included? Whose voice is missing, and where could a reporter find it?
Follow the numbers. The PBS NewsHour segment reports that about 350,000 Haitians became at risk of deportation. The American Immigration Council puts the number of Haitians affected at over 330,000. Why might two credible sources report different numbers? Where does each figure come from, and what would you need to know to compare them?
Watch the words. Supporters of ending TPS call it a “de facto amnesty.” Advocates call it “protection.” Find two news stories or statements about TPS that use different language to describe the same thing. How does each word choice shape what a reader thinks?
Check the date. TPS decisions can change quickly, and news coverage doesn’t always keep up. Even the sources in this lesson disagree on details. GBH reported that TPS for Haitians ended on July 27, 2026, while the PBS anchor, speaking on Sept. 1, says it expired “late last month.” Choose one TPS country and find the most recent update you can, starting with the official USCIS Temporary Protected Status page. What has changed since this lesson was published? Which sources were the most current, and how could you tell? Why does that matter before you share information?
Think before you share. In 2024, Springfield was at the center of viral claims about Haitian immigrants that city officials said were false. How can you check a claim about immigrants, or about immigration enforcement in your area, before you repost it? What harm can a false alert cause, even when it’s shared with good intentions?
Option 1: Write the decision memo. TPS designations for Sudan and Ukraine currently run through Oct. 19, 2026. Assign small groups to one of those countries. Each group researches current conditions using the State Department’s travel advisory, recent news coverage and the USCIS country page. Then each group writes a one-page memo to the secretary of Homeland Security recommending an extension or a termination, backed by evidence. Groups present, and the class compares their reasoning. CFR Education's Migration: Policy lesson plan is a good warmup for this activity.
Option 2: Socratic seminar. Hold a seminar on this question: How temporary should “temporary” be? Students prepare with the PBS transcript and one additional source of their choice, and each student must cite evidence at least once during the discussion.
Note for teachers: Both options keep the focus on policy and evidence, so no student has to draw on personal experience to participate.
Explore dozens of rich, engaging resources to teach about immigration policy, history, and awareness with preK-12 students.
