Story highlights In the next six months, the administration will weigh whether to extend status for more than 400,000 people

Haitians have already been warned an end to their US stay could be coming

Washington (CNN) As the nation's immigrant community grapples with President Donald Trump's decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, a similar move could be looming for hundreds of thousands of other immigrants who have been permitted to build lives in the United States, in some cases for decades.

At issue is "temporary protected status," a provision of immigration law that allows the government to grant temporary work authorizations and protection from deportation to immigrants, including otherwise undocumented ones, from certain countries where life remains dangerous. Conditions that could merit the status include armed conflict and civil war, natural disasters, epidemics and "other extraordinary and temporary conditions."

The status is intended to be temporary, but many of the designated countries have had their crises continue for years, resulting in certain groups' protections lasting for decades.

In the next six months, the Trump administration will weigh whether to extend the status for several countries whose immigrants have lived in the United States for as long as 20 years -- with a decision to end that status potentially upending their lives. All told, more than 440,000 people in the United States are protected by the program.

The Department of Homeland Security is overdue for a decision about Sudan and South Sudan; there are 1,039 temporarily protected immigrants from Sudan in the United States and 49 from South Sudan, according to data provided by US Citizenship and Immigration Services. Their status is set to expire November 2, and federal law requires a decision 60 days before the deadline and timely publication of that decision.

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