Mayor Karen Bass condemned the expiration of Temporary Protected Status for Salvadorans on Wednesday, Sept. 9, calling it an attack on the families and communities that define Los Angeles.

An estimated 170,000 Salvadoran immigrants and their 150,000 U.S.-born children lost legal protections nationwide when the program's deadline passed, according to Spectrum News. California is home to roughly 55,000 of those TPS holders, including thousands in Los Angeles, Bass said in her official statement.

The program, known as TPS, allows immigrants from countries hit by armed conflict or natural disasters to live and work legally in the United States. Congress created it in 1990. El Salvador received the designation in 2001 after two earthquakes, according to El País, making it the longest-running TPS designation in U.S. history.

The program had been renewed every 18 months for more than two decades. President Joe Biden signed the most recent extension just before leaving office, setting the Sept. 9 deadline.

What it means for Los Angeles

Bass warned that the loss of work authorization will hit LA's hospitals, restaurants, construction sites, small businesses and service industries. She named Westlake, Pico-Union, the San Fernando Valley and South Los Angeles as neighborhoods with large Salvadoran communities.

In Westlake, TPS holders held an hours-long overnight vigil as they awaited word on the program's fate, NBC Los Angeles reported.

As of Thursday, Sept. 10, employment authorization documents based solely on Salvadoran TPS are no longer valid, even if the physical card shows a later expiration date.

Bass pledged that the city would take action to protect Salvadoran residents but did not announce specific measures. She called on Congress to provide a permanent path to citizenship.

Federal picture still unclear

The Department of Homeland Security had not issued a formal termination order as of Wednesday. A DHS spokesperson said an announcement would come at the appropriate time and that Salvadoran TPS holders retain protection until then. Under federal law, if DHS takes no action by the statutory deadline, protections automatically extend for six months.

Jean Reisz, a professor at USC's Gould School of Law, told Spectrum News that legal options for TPS holders are limited. The Supreme Court's June 2026 ruling in Mullin v. Doe upheld the government's authority to end TPS designations and sharply curtailed judicial review of those decisions.

"The problem is the Supreme Court decision, Mullin vs. Doe, really took a lot of rights away to challenge a decision not to extend TPS or the decision to terminate it," Reisz said.

TPS ended for 1 million under Trump

During President Donald Trump's second term, the Department of Homeland Security has ended TPS for more than 1 million people from 14 countries, according to NBC News. That includes about 300,000 Haitians whose protections were terminated in July. Only Lebanon, Sudan and Ukraine still have active TPS designations.

Bass's statement was published in English, Spanish and Korean. No date for a follow-up city action has been announced.