function getUsersByStatus($desiredStatus) {
    $matchingUsers = [];
    
    $conn = new mysqli("localhost", "db_user", "db_password", "users_database");
    
    if ($conn->connect_error) {
        die("Connection failed: " . $conn->connect_error);
    }
    
    $result = $conn->query("SELECT * FROM users");
    
    while ($row = $result->fetch_assoc()) {
        if ($row['status'] == $desiredStatus) {
            $matchingUsers[] = $row;
        }
    }
    
    $conn->close();
    
    return $matchingUsers;
}

// example of using it
$registeredUsers = getUsersByStatus("registered");