Federal officials said conditions no longer prevent Syrians from safely returning to their home country.
The Trump administration is ending a designation for Syria that has allowed thousands of its citizens to live and work in the United States.
On Friday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it will not renew Syria’s Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a program that shields eligible foreign nationals from deportation and provides work authorization when a safe return to their home country is deemed impossible due to conditions such as war or natural disaster.
The status was first granted for Syria in 2012, in response to the civil war that erupted the previous year, and was extended multiple times during Trump’s first term and the Biden administration.
The Biden administration most recently extended Syria’s designation for 18 months, from April 1, 2024, to Sept. 30, 2025, citing the country’s then-raging civil war. At that time, DHS estimated that roughly 6,200 Syrians were benefitting from TPS.
In Friday’s notice, DHS said it will let the designation expire, noting that while violence persists in parts of Syria, the country no longer meets the statutory criteria of an “ongoing armed conflict” that poses a serious threat to those who return.
The department highlighted a series of political changes in Syria since December 2024, when rebels toppled the Assad regime. Since then, an interim government has established a caretaker cabinet, ratified a constitutional declaration granting a five-year transitional period, and held a national conference to solicit public input on the country’s future.
These steps, the DHS said, demonstrated “an effort to move the country to a stable institutional governance, not a perpetuation of armed conflict.”
“Syria’s long-time dictator was deposed, a transitional political structure has been installed, large-scale military campaigns have ceased, and displaced populations are returning,” the DHS notice stated.
“While scattered episodes of violence persist, the structural transformation in Syria aligns far more closely with the post-conflict transitional phase of a nation rather than ongoing armed conflict.”
The department also pointed to terrorist activity in Syria as an additional reason for ending the TPS designation. With no functioning U.S. diplomatic mission in Damascus, officials said it is impossible for the federal government to adequately verify each Syrian national’s identity, criminal history, or potential terrorist ties—posing an “ongoing threat” to public safety and national security.
By Bill Pan
