The U.S. Department of Justice has asked the Supreme Court of the United States to allow the administration to proceed with ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for more than 350,000 Haitian immigrants currently living in the country.
This request is part of ongoing legal challenges tied to the Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to terminate TPS for multiple countries. If the designation is removed, affected immigrants could become eligible for deportation. The Supreme Court has previously permitted similar rollbacks for Venezuelan migrants, while a separate case involving Syrian immigrants is still pending.
Haiti was first granted TPS in 2010 after a devastating earthquake that killed more than 300,000 people and caused widespread destruction. The program allows individuals from countries facing armed conflict, natural disasters, or other extraordinary conditions to remain temporarily in the United States and receive work authorization. TPS protections are typically issued in 18-month periods and can be renewed if conditions in the home country remain unsafe.
During his first term, Donald Trump sought to rescind Haiti’s TPS designation, but legal challenges prevented the policy from taking effect. After returning to office, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced plans to end the protections, with the change scheduled to take effect on February 3.
In December, five Haitian nationals filed a lawsuit challenging the decision. A federal district court ruled in their favor, finding that the administration had not provided sufficient justification for ending TPS. The court ordered that protections remain in place while the case proceeds.
The government appealed the ruling, but a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit declined to block the lower court’s decision. As a result, TPS protections remain in effect for now while the legal process continues.
