A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration's attempt to end deportation protections for more than 350,000 Haitian immigrants, who are allowed to live and work in the US legally under Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
A day before the TPS was set to lapse, US judge Ana Reyes indicated that the Department of Homeland Security did not possess the facts or law necessary to support their move. Plaintiffs charge that Secretary [Kristi] Noem preordained her termination decision and did so because of hostility to nonwhite immigrants. This seems substantially likely, Reyes wrote.
The Trump administration has argued that TPS schemes attract illegal immigration and have historically been abused, claiming that the status for Haiti has transformed into a permanent residency issue.
In a comprehensive ruling, Reyes denied the administration's motion to dismiss the lawsuit, allowing TPS protections to remain while the case progresses through the courts. She noted that the plaintiffs do not fit the negative characterizations often attributed to immigrant populations.
Haiti received TPS status following a catastrophic earthquake in 2010, with the status being renewed numerous times, most recently in 2021. Critics of the administration's immigration policy contend that it unjustly targets vulnerable populations and raises serious humanitarian concerns.
Meanwhile, similar efforts to end protections for around 2,500 Somali immigrants are set to take effect soon, potentially leaving many without legal status in the US.
