The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on October 29 that it had taken approximately 2.2 million immigration enforcement actions to revoke or terminate immigration status since January 20, 2025, when President Donald Trump began his second term.
The wider programme includes ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for people from 13 countries, among them Nepal.
What the figure includes
USCIS grouped the actions into five categories: ending TPS designations, denying requests to extend or change temporary status, issuing Notices to Appear before immigration judges, ending automatic extensions for certain work-permit renewals, and ending categorical humanitarian parole programmes.
It said the number was nearly seven times the enforcement actions of the final two years of the Biden administration.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the administration was denying ineligible benefits, terminating improperly granted ones and starting removal proceedings against people it considers to be violating immigration law.
USCIS said its actions are separate from visa revocations by the State Department and removals by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Nepal’s place among 13 countries
When Trump returned to office, 17 countries held TPS designations. By October 22, the Congressional Research Service reported that 13 had been terminated. Using its table, the combined cohort is about 1.103 million people as of June 25, 2026.
Venezuela accounts for 627,750 and Haiti for 353,160.
Nepal’s figure is 12,160, roughly 1.1 percent of the total. These are counts of people covered at termination, not the number currently without another status, and some have since obtained permanent residence. The four designations still in effect were El Salvador, Sudan, Ukraine and Lebanon.
How Nepal got TPS and lost it
Nepal was designated for TPS on June 24, 2015, after the April 25 earthquake that year, and the protection was extended several times. In 2018, during Trump’s first term, the Department of Homeland Security announced a termination, but litigation halted its implementation. In June 2023, the Biden administration rescinded it and extended TPS through June 24, 2025.
On June 6, 2025, the department published a new termination notice, effective August 5, 2025, with a 60-day transition period. It said conditions in Nepal had improved, citing 88.36 percent of earthquake-damaged households rebuilt, 81.43 percent of damaged health facilities reconstructed, more than 300,000 houses built with World Bank and other support, the closure of Nepal’s National Reconstruction Authority in 2021 and improved disaster preparedness.
It also said Nepal could receive citizens returning under final removal orders. The notice estimated about 12,700 beneficiaries, of whom around 5,500 had become permanent residents.
The legal fight
The National TPS Alliance and individual beneficiaries from Nepal, Honduras and Nicaragua sued on July 7, 2025. On December 31, 2025, a federal court in the Northern District of California set aside the termination for the three countries.
On February 9, 2026, the Ninth Circuit stayed that order while the government appealed, and on April 6 it paused further proceedings pending Supreme Court decisions.
On June 25, 2026, in Mullin v. Doe, a case concerning Syria and Haiti, the Supreme Court held that the TPS statute bars courts from reviewing non-constitutional challenges to a termination decision. That creates an obstacle for procedural claims, but the court did not rule on Nepal’s case. USCIS continues to list Nepal’s TPS as terminated.
What losing TPS means
TPS allows eligible people to stay, work and be protected from removal for a limited time, but it does not provide a green card or citizenship. Once it ends, beneficiaries return to the status they held before TPS, or to another valid status acquired while registered. Those with a green card keep it, and citizens are unaffected. Someone with only TPS and no other basis to stay may face removal proceedings, and may need to explore other legal options.
It does not mean automatic deportation. The government may issue a Notice to Appear, which starts a case in immigration court but is not a final removal order.
Effects beyond TPS
Nepali who never held TPS are not automatically affected.
Students on F-1 visas and workers on H-1B or other temporary visas keep their status, but an application to extend or change status can be denied if USCIS finds no legal basis.
A separate rule, finalised on October 14, 2026, ends automatic extensions of up to 540 days for certain work-permit renewals filed on or after October 30, 2025, with exceptions, so a gap in work authorisation is possible if a new card is not issued in time.
The potential effects include uncertainty for families, loss of household income, strain on Nepali-owned businesses and community groups, and possible changes in remittances.
What people should do
Affected people should check their exact immigration category, read any USCIS notices, track work-authorisation dates, keep documents such as EAD cards and I-797 notices, and consult a qualified immigration attorney or accredited representative.
