The Trump administration announced Wednesday a renewed effort to terminate the Temporary Protected Status of more than 350,000 Haitian immigrants, saying they will be eligible for deportation in early February unless they have other legal means to remain in the U.S.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem made the decision after the Trump administration’s initial attempts to end the TPS protections of hundreds of thousands of Haitians earlier this year were stalled in federal court.
Noem acknowledged the humanitarian and political problems faced by crisis-stricken Haiti — including what she called “widespread gang violence” — but said extending the TPS policy would be at odds with U.S. interests.
“Based on the Department’s review, the Secretary has determined that while the current situation in Haiti is concerning, the United States must prioritize its national interests and permitting Haitian nationals to remain temporarily in the United States is contrary to the U.S. national interest,” the official DHS termination notice said.
The TPS program for Haiti is now set to expire on Feb. 3, and the termination is expected to affect 352,959 beneficiaries, DHS said in its notice. Trump administration officials have urged TPS holders whose status is set to lapse to self-deport or face the prospect of being detained and forcibly removed from the U.S.
TPS allows beneficiaries to work and live in the U.S. without fear of deportation for time periods outlined by DHS. The humanitarian program was created by Congress in 1990 to allow administrations to grant a temporary safe haven to foreigners from countries facing an armed conflict, an environmental disaster or other emergencies.
The Biden administration vastly expanded the TPS policy, offering the protections to hundreds of thousands of new arrivals from Afghanistan, Haiti, Ukraine, Venezuela and other countries. Some of those who benefit from TPS entered the U.S. illegally, most commonly along the southern border, while others arrived legally on temporary visas or programs.
As part of its government-wide immigration crackdown, the second Trump administration has sought to dismantle most TPS programs, revoking or moving to revoke legal protections for hundreds of thousands of Afghans, Burmese, Cameroonians, Haitians, Hondurans, Nepalis, Nicaraguans, Syrians, Sudanese and Venezuelans.
The Trump administration has argued the TPS policy has been abused by Democratic administrations, exploited by bad actors and extended for too long, even though it is designed to be temporary in nature. In some cases, it has argued conditions in countries with TPS have improved and in other cases, it has said that extending the program would not further U.S. interests, even if conditions in the affected nations remain dire.
In its notice Wednesday, DHS argued the TPS policy for Haiti was a magnet for illegal immigration, and that continuing the program posed national security and public safety risks. It cited concerns about its ability to properly vet Haitian migrants, and cases of some TPS holders from Haiti being implicated in immigration fraud or national security investigations.