Trump administration ends legal protections for Haitians

MIAMI (AP) — The Department of Homeland Security said Friday that it is terminating legal protections for hundreds of thousands of Haitians, setting them up for potential deportation. DHS said that conditions in Haiti have improved and Haitians no longer meet the conditions for the temporary legal protections. The termination of temporary protected status, or TPS, applies to about 500,000 Haitians who are already in the United States, some of whom have lived here for more than a decade. It is coming three months after the Trump administration revoked legal protections for thousands of Haitians who arrived legally in the country under a humanitarian parole program, and it is part of part of a series of measures implemented to curb immigration. Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a federal judge's order preventing the administration from revoking the parole program. TPS allows people already in the United States to stay and work legally if their homelands are deemed unsafe. Immigrants from 17 countries, including Haiti, Afghanistan, Sudan and Lebanon, were receiving those protections before President Donald Trump took office for his second term in January. President Trump is ending protections and programs for immigrants as part of his mass deportations promises. During his political campaign he said his administration would scale back the use of TPS, which covered more than 1 million immigrants. His campaign highlighted unfounded claims that Haitians who live and work legally in Springfield, Ohio, as TPS holders were eating their neighbors' pets. Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans and some Afghans have been told already that they're losing their TPS status. Some of the Haitians who benefit from TPS have requested asylum or other lawful immigration status that could protect them from deportation, although it is not clear how many could be left without any relief. "This decision restores integrity in our immigration system and ensures that Temporary Protective Status is actually temporary," a DHS spokesperson said. "The environmental situation in Haiti has improved enough that it is safe for Haitian citizens to return home." The Department of State, nonetheless, has not changed its travel advisory and still recommends Americans "do not travel to Haiti due to kidnapping, crime, civil unrest, and limited health care." Temporary protected status for Haitians expires on Aug. 3, and the termination will be effective on Sept. 2, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said. DHS advised TPS holders to return to Haiti using a mobile application called CBP Home. Gang violence has displaced 1.3 million people across Haiti as the local government and international community struggle to contain an spiraling crisis, according to a recent report from the International Organization for Migration. The report warned of a 24% increase in displaced people since December, with gunmen having chased 11% of Haiti's nearly 12 million inhabitants from their home. "Deporting people back to these conditions is a death sentence for many, stripping them of their fundamental right to safety and dignity," said Tessa Pettit, a Haitian-American who is executive director of the Florida Immigrant Coalition. Frantz Desir, 36, has been in the U.S. since 2022 on asylum, but he says he is concerned by the Trump administration's decision to terminate TPS. "You see your friends who used to go to work every day, and suddenly—without being sick or fired—they just can't go anymore. It hits you. Even if it hasn't happened to you yet, you start to worry, 'What if it's me next?'" Desir says his asylum court date was set for this year, but the judge rescheduled it for 2028. Desir lives in Springfield, Ohio, with his wife and two children, and he works in a car parts manufacturing plant.