WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is considering extending protections for hundreds of thousands of immigrants whose status in the United States is set to expire in the first months of the Trump administration, according to U.S. officials and documents viewed by The New York Times.

The move would make it harder, though not impossible, for President-elect Donald Trump to deport those people. But it is a sign that the Biden administration could try, in its final weeks, to build some obstacles to what Trump has promised will be the biggest deportation in U.S. history.

The immigrants in question have Temporary Protected Status, which allows people from dangerous and troubled countries to live and work in the United States legally. As of this year, there are 1 million immigrants from 17 countries with TPS, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Trump tried to get rid of the program during his first term and his advisers have made clear that he will try again as part of a broad crackdown on legal and illegal immigration.

— The New York Times