U.S. President ⁠Donald ⁠Trump’s administration on Friday extended ⁠work permits for hundreds of thousands of immigrants with ​temporary protected status from Haiti and six other countries, hours before they were due ‌to expire. 

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration ‌Services, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, said work ⁠permits for ⁠Haitians with temporary protected status will now expire on July ​24. Permits for recipients from Ethiopia, Syria, Somalia, Yemen, South Sudan and Myanmar will end in a week’s time. 

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last month that the Trump administration ​could end temporary protected status for Haitians and Syrians. 

Temporary protected status allows people ⁠already in ⁠the United States to ⁠remain in ​the country and work legally if their home countries are affected by natural ​disasters, armed conflict or ⁠other extraordinary conditions.

Rights advocates and community members have expressed fear that the Supreme Court’s decision could strip hundreds of thousands of people of work authorization and protection from deportation.

Labor groups had urged an extension of the work permissions, arguing ⁠that their removal could result in “chaos in workplaces and disrupt key industries.”

Trump ⁠has pursued a hardline immigration crackdown and deportation drive, which has been widely condemned by human rights groups as being in violation of free speech and due process rights. 

Human rights groups also say the crackdown has created an unsafe environment for ethnic minorities and raised concerns of racial profiling.

While Trump campaigned in 2024 on a platform of stopping illegal immigration, his administration has also made legal immigration more difficult – or ⁠example, by imposing new and expensive fees for applicants of certain visas and by enforcing the vetting of social media of applicants and immigrants already in the country.

Trump says his actions aim at improving domestic ​security and at securing jobs for U.S. citizens.

REUTERS