SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (AP) — A federal judge on Monday issued a ruling preventing the Trump administration from terminating temporary protections that have permitted approximately 350,000 Haitians to reside and work in the United States.
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington granted a temporary halt to the termination of temporary protected status for Haitians while a legal challenge is ongoing. The scheduled end date for the TPS designation for individuals from the Caribbean island nation was Feb. 3.
Temporary Protected Status can be provided by the Homeland Security secretary if conditions in individuals’ home countries are considered unsafe for return due to natural disasters, political instability, or other hazards. Although it grants TPS holders the right to reside and work in the U.S., it does not offer a legal pathway to citizenship.
The Trump administration has been actively working to remove the protection, which would make more individuals eligible for deportation. These actions are part of a broader wider, mass deportation effort.
In addition to individuals from Haiti, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has terminated protections for around 600,000 Venezuelans, 60,000 people from Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal, over 160,000 Ukrainians, and numerous individuals from Afghanistan and Cameroon. Some of these individuals have pending lawsuits in federal courts.
Haiti’s TPS status was initially activated in 2010 following a devastating earthquake and has been extended multiple times. The nation is currently ravaged by gang violence, leading to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people.
“If the termination is allowed to proceed, lives will undoubtedly be lost,” stated attorneys representing Haitian TPS holders in a court filing in December. “Some individuals will likely face violence, others may succumb to illness, and still others may die of hunger.”
They argue that the decision to terminate Haiti’s status was driven by racial prejudice, and Noem failed to assess whether there was an ongoing armed conflict posing a “significant threat” to personal safety, as required by law.
The Department of Homeland Security stated that conditions in Haiti had improved. In a court filing in December, the administration’s attorneys mentioned that the plaintiffs’ allegations of racial bias were based on statements “taken out of context, often from other speakers and from years ago, and without direct links to the Secretary’s determinations.”
“Instead, Secretary Noem provided well-reasoned explanations for her decisions,” they stated.
A government notice issued in November announcing the termination mentioned some positive developments in Haiti, including the establishment of a new, multinational force to combat gangs. Noem concluded that allowing Haitians to remain in the U.S. was not in the nation’s best interest, as per the notice.
