In Las Vegas, union supports service workers at risk of losing temporary protected status

Nevada Public Radio | By Yvette Fernandez

Published September 9, 2026 at 4:04 PM MDT

In this file photo Culinary Workers Union spokesperson Ted Pappageorge speaks during a rally along the Las Vegas Strip, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Union leaders in Las Vegas are concerned the service industry will take a hit as potentially thousands of workers lose temporary protected status this week.

The city's tourism industry relies on its hospitality workers, including many from El Salvador who came to the U-S under TPS, which provides protections from deportation and work permits to those whose countries are deemed too unsafe to return to.

Culinary Union spokesperson Ted Pappageorge said the workers are critical to hotels, casinos and other businesses in Las Vegas.

"We have thousands of TPS members who are Culinary Union members," Pappageorge said. "Many of them, like our Salvadoran brothers and sisters, have been here for decades. They have children, they have homes, they pay taxes and they are critical to our economy here in Las Vegas."

He called U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services efforts to take away TPS "harmful" to families and the economy.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has cited a Supreme Court case in efforts to remove the protected status from TPS holders. In roughly one year, the agency has announced or implemented TPS terminations for many foreign nationals seeking refuge in the United States, including those from Myanmar, Haiti, Syria, Venezuela, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Afghanistan and Cameroon.

Those from El Salvador are expected to lose their status Wednesday, Sept. 9.

Some politicians are trying to reverse the push by the Trump administration, including Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, a Nevada Democrat. She says there are approximately 5,800 TPS holders from El Salvador in the Southern Nevada metro area. She added that TPS workers contribute to the economy through taxes and said she is pushing a bill to allow TPS holders a path toward permanent legal residency.

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio, KJZZ in Arizona and NPR, with additional support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.