WASHINGTON — The Trump administration said on Sunday that people from Ukraine and Sudan would be able to keep their temporary humanitarian protections for now, allowing them to continue living in the United States.

Temporary Protected Status, a program meant to help foreign nationals who cannot safely return home because of armed conflict or natural disasters in their countries, was set to expire for about 100,000 Ukrainians and about 1,800 Sudanese on Monday.

The Department of Homeland Security said that an announcement on the future of both programs would be “made at the appropriate time” and that people covered by them would be protected until then. The department did not provide more information on the timing of the announcement.

Ukraine is nearly five years into a war that has battered the country, and civilian casualties have hit the highest levels since the beginning of the full-scale invasion by Russia. Sudan is in the middle of a devastating civil war that has engulfed the country for more than three years, leading to a severe food crisis.

The decision to hold off making an announcement mirrored a similar move by the Trump administration last month to allow people from El Salvador to keep their deportation protections for now. Since then, no announcement has been made, and more than 170,000 Salvadorans have been left in limbo.

President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown has become a political problem for Republicans ahead of the midterm elections on Nov. 3, and his party is at risk of losing control of one or both chambers of Congress. The decision to keep the protections for Ukrainians also comes as tensions between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have erupted over Trump’s thawing relationship and dealmaking with Moscow, raising questions about the future of U.S. support for Ukraine.

This month, the United States lifted sanctions on Russian diesel exports that were first put in place to limit Moscow’s ability to finance the war.

Trump’s efforts stem from concerns that high fuel prices could hurt Republicans in the midterms. He has demanded that Ukraine stop striking Russian oil refineries so that Moscow can send more diesel to global markets. Zelenskyy said last week that he would resume the strikes after Russia refused to halt its own attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, defying Trump.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Madeleine Ngo/Valerie Plesch
c. 2026 The New York Times Company