Work permits and deportation protections for Nevada’s Salvadoran Temporary Protected Status holders expire Wednesday, Sept. 9, ending a designation that has run since 2001 and is the longest-running TPS program in U.S. history.
U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto told a Sept. 2 press conference in Las Vegas that “here in Nevada, we have more than 5,800 TPS holders,” a figure other coverage of the same event rounded to about 6,000.
Neither number is an official government count, and neither is Salvadoran-specific. Cortez Masto and Nevada Current both describe the 5,800 to 6,000 figure as Nevada’s total TPS population across all countries, with Salvadorans making up “most” or “the majority.”
No federal agency publishes a state-by-state TPS count broken out by country of origin, so the calculations below treat that statewide total as a proxy for Nevada’s Salvadoran TPS population, the same approach Nevada’s own congressional delegation uses when it cites the number in the context of El Salvador’s expiring designation.
If a meaningful share of Nevada’s TPS holders come from other countries, the true Salvadoran-specific share would be somewhat lower than the figures below, though not enough to change the direction of the finding.
What Nevada’s Share Looks Like Next to the Nation’s
Run either number against Nevada’s population and the state is holding far more than its share of the country’s Salvadoran TPS population. Nevada’s population was 3,282,188 as of July 1, 2025, against a U.S. total of 341.8 million, according to the Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025 estimates, released Jan. 27, 2026. That puts Nevada at 0.96% of the national population, a figure calculated for this article.
FWD.us, an immigration advocacy group, estimated in a July 2026 fact sheet that about 170,000 Salvadoran TPS holders live nationwide, using data as of early 2025.
Dividing Nevada’s 5,800 to 6,000 by that national total puts the state at 3.4% to 3.5% of the country’s Salvadoran TPS population, a range calculated for this article. Divide that by Nevada’s 0.96% population share and the state is holding 3.5 to 3.7 times what its population alone would predict.
A second estimate, from the American Immigration Council, puts the national Salvadoran TPS population closer to 195,000, built on older American Community Survey data checked against USCIS administrative records rather than a fresh count. Using that larger total instead narrows Nevada’s overrepresentation to about 3.1 to 3.2 times its population share.
Either way the direction holds: Nevada’s slice of the country’s Salvadoran TPS population is several times larger than its slice of the country’s people.
That gap is bigger than Nevada’s general pull on immigrants would explain. Nevada’s foreign-born residents made up 19.9% of the state’s population in 2024, against 14.8% nationally, per a Congressional Research Service report published May 8, 2026, using 2024 American Community Survey data.
That is 1.34 times the national rate, a ratio calculated for this article. Nevada’s Salvadoran TPS overrepresentation runs roughly three times higher than that, pointing to something more specific than the state simply drawing more immigrants overall: a concentration in the industries that keep the Strip running.
| Measure | Nevada’s share | Multiple of population share |
|---|---|---|
| Share of U.S. population | 0.96% | 1.0x (baseline) |
| Share of U.S. foreign-born population | 1.29% | 1.34x |
| Share of U.S. Salvadoran TPS population (FWD.us estimate) | 3.4% to 3.5% | 3.5x to 3.7x |
| Share of U.S. Salvadoran TPS population (AIC estimate) | 3.0% to 3.1% | 3.1x to 3.2x |
Nevada’s share of the foreign-born population is calculated for this article as Nevada’s 649,711 foreign-born residents divided by the national 50.2 million total, both figures from the Congressional Research Service’s May 8, 2026 report. All other shares and multiples are calculated for this article from the population and TPS figures cited above.
Where That Concentration Comes From
Cortez Masto said Salvadoran TPS holders “work in nearly every hotel on the Strip” and “helped build Las Vegas as we know it.” The Culinary Union, which represents 60,000 hospitality workers statewide, says thousands of its members hold TPS, concentrated in housekeeping, culinary and bartending jobs. Ted Pappageorge, the union’s secretary-treasurer, said many of those workers “have homes, they pay taxes, and it’s critical to our economy.”
Robert Fuentes of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local 13 described TPS holders in the construction trades as “not just workers” but “coworkers, our friends, our neighbors.” Francis Garcia, co-coordinator of the National TPS Alliance’s Nevada chapter, put it more bluntly: “We are the workforce that moves the economy in Las Vegas.”
Cortez Masto also noted that “every single Salvadoran TPS holder has been in this country for at least 25 years,” consistent with a designation that has run continuously since El Salvador’s 2001 earthquakes.
What Changes Wednesday
A federal court has already intervened once in the broader fight over TPS work permits, but not over the date at the center of this story. U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton in Massachusetts issued an administrative stay on July 21, 2026, in Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts v. USCIS, blocking the government from retroactively shortening the validity of already-issued work permits for TPS holders from El Salvador, Sudan and Ukraine.
That order protects some existing employment authorization documents. It does not move El Salvador’s underlying TPS termination date, which both that ruling and subsequent legal coverage confirm remains Sept. 9, 2026.
Starting Wednesday, Salvadoran TPS holders whose employment authorization documents expire on or after that date lose both their legal work permits and protection from deportation, unless they qualify for some other immigration status. Cortez Masto’s office said as much at the Sept. 2 event: “TPS permits will expire on September 9th. They will not have work permits.”
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Nevadans does this affect?
Estimates range from “more than 5,800,” per Cortez Masto, to about 6,000 in broader coverage of the same announcement. Both figures describe Nevada’s total TPS population across all countries, and officials describe most of that group as Salvadoran, so the number specifically losing status Wednesday is likely somewhat below the full 5,800 to 6,000.
Does the July court order help anyone facing the Sept. 9 deadline?
It can help some workers whose employment authorization documents were already extended and would otherwise have been cut short before their original expiration date. It does not extend El Salvador’s TPS designation itself past Sept. 9, and it does not restore work authorization for anyone whose permit’s original expiration date falls on or after that date.
Could the designation still be extended?
The Trump administration has not announced an extension as of publication, and Cortez Masto and other Nevada officials have called on the administration to reverse course. Immigration attorneys quoted in local coverage have urged affected workers to consult a lawyer about other potential paths to legal status before the deadline.
