US Extends Immigration Protections for Burmese Immigrants

The Department of Homeland Security is extending immigration protections for Burmese immigrants, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced Friday. The Temporary Protected Status for Myanmar will be extended for 18 months from May 26 to Nov. 25, 2025.

Under protected status people can legally live and work in the U.S. if they cannot return to their home countries for a variety of reasons, such as natural disasters or war.

Myanmar’s military, called the Tatmadaw, has been in power since 1962. U.S. policy is to call the country Burma, the name it formally shed over 30 years ago after the ruling junta brutally suppressed a pro-democracy uprising.

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The Department of Homeland Security said Friday’s action, officially a redesignation of Myanmar, would extend protections for 2,300 current beneficiaries. It would also allow an estimated 7,300 additional Burmese nationals to apply for protections.

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