Washington DC - The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced a re-designation and extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somalia, while migrants from Central American countries continue to demand action.

The DHS has published a Federal Register notice extending TPS for Somalia for another 18 months, beginning on March 18, 2023, and ending on September 17, 2024. Current TPS holders who wish to extend their status are required to re-register during a 60-day period.

The re-designation also allows Somali nationals and stateless persons last residing in Somalia who have been living in the United States since January 11, 2023, to apply for first-time TPS protections.

TPS is a temporary legal status conferred upon nationals of designated countries who are already residing in the US when conditions like natural disasters or political instability make it dangerous for them to return.

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Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas first announced that TPS for Somalia would be extended and re-designated on January 12, 2023.

"Through the extension and redesignation of Somalia for Temporary Protected Status, the United States will be able to offer safety and protection to Somalis who may not be able to return to their country, due to ongoing conflict and the continuing humanitarian crisis," Mayorkas said at the time. "We will continue to offer our support to Somali nationals through this temporary form of humanitarian relief."

The DHS cited ongoing armed conflict, as well as climate, health, and food security challenges, plus the difficulty of delivering humanitarian aid, as reasons for providing temporary immigration protections to Somali residents in the US.

The DHS' announcement has been met with praise, but also demands that more be done to protect the hundreds of thousands of Central Americans still waiting for action from the administration.

"We welcome Joe Biden's utilization of TPS to protect migrants/refugees & continue to await the same action for Central America," the National TPS Alliance tweeted on Monday.

The DHS announced in November that TPS for El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Nepal, Haiti, and Sudan had been auto-extended for 18 months, through July 2024. The next month, it granted an extension and re-designation for Haiti, but did not do so for Central American nationals, who make up the bulk of TPS holders in the US.

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According to Politico, the Biden administration is mulling a re-designation for Nicaragua, where President Daniel Ortega has come under increasing scrutiny for political "repression" of protesters, clergy, and students, US lawmakers wrote in a letter to Mayorkas in February.

President Biden and his administration have faced heavy criticism in recent months for several proposals that activists say will infringe on the basic rights of migrants and refugees, including a new policy that would effectively bar Central American migrants from claiming asylum at the US-Mexico border.

The Biden administration also stirred controversy after it came out the president is considering a possible return to migrant family detentions – a practice widely panned as cruel and inhumane.