US extends temporary protected status to people from Yemen

Joe Biden's administration is extending a programme that allows people from Yemen to stay in the US temporarily because of the turmoil from the civil war there.

About 2,100 Yemenis and their families will benefit from the extension and re-designation of temporary protected status, the Department of Homeland Security said in announcing the decision on Tuesday.

They will be allowed to live and work in the US through March 2023, though the programme does not automatically grant them a path to American citizenship.

Their temporary protected status was due to expire in September.

DHS cited the worsening humanitarian and economic conditions that prevent people from Yemen from returning to their homes.

The country has been embroiled in a civil war since 2014. There is also widespread famine, a cholera outbreak that has raged since 2016 and the effects of the pandemic.

The Biden administration has granted or extended the temporary status to people from several countries, including Myanmar, El Salvador, Haiti and Venezuela. That's in contrast to Donald Trump's administration, which sought to phase out the programme, an effort that was slowed by legal challenges.