More than 330,000 Haitians who have legally lived and worked in the United States for as long as 15 years could soon be forced to leave the country after the Trump administration moved to end the humanitarian protections that allowed them to remain following Haiti’s devastating 2010 earthquake.
Employers have begun preparing for the loss of longtime workers, and the Department of Homeland Security is urging affected immigrants to leave voluntarily, even as many continue fighting the administration’s decision in federal court.
The administration’s decision affects one of the nation’s largest groups of Temporary Protected Status recipients and follows a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allows the government to move forward with ending Haiti’s TPS designation while legal challenges continue. To understand why hundreds of thousands of people could lose the right to remain in the United States, it helps to understand what TPS is—and what it is not.
What Is TPS?
Temporary Protected Status, commonly known as TPS, is a humanitarian immigration program created by Congress in 1990 as part of the Immigration Act of 1990.
The law authorizes the secretary of Homeland Security to temporarily protect people already living in the United States when conditions in their home country make it unsafe for them to return. Those conditions may include armed conflict, natural disasters or other extraordinary circumstances.
TPS is not permanent residency, and it is not a pathway to citizenship. It simply allows eligible people to remain in the United States temporarily without being deported while also allowing them to apply for authorization to work legally.
People do not automatically receive TPS. They must apply individually, meet eligibility requirements established by the federal government and pass background checks before being approved.
Why Did Haitians Receive TPS?
Following Haiti’s devastating January 2010 earthquake, the Obama administration designated Haiti for TPS after determining that conditions in the country made it unsafe for people to return.
The designation allowed eligible Haitians who were already living in the United States by the government’s eligibility dates to apply for TPS. Some had entered on tourist, student or work visas, while others were already living in the country without legal status. Those who met the requirements could receive temporary protection from deportation and legal authorization to work.
Over the past 15 years, many Haitian TPS recipients have built lives in the United States. They have established careers, purchased homes, started businesses and raised families, including children who are U.S. citizens. Many work in health care, construction, manufacturing, transportation and other industries where employers already report worker shortages.
What began as a temporary humanitarian program after Haiti’s 2010 earthquake has, for many recipients, become the foundation of a life built in the United States.
Why Is TPS Ending?
Under the law, the same authority that allows the Homeland Security secretary to designate a country for TPS also allows the secretary to end that designation if the government determines the country no longer meets the legal requirements.
The Trump administration concluded that Haiti no longer qualifies for TPS and announced it would terminate the designation, arguing that Congress intended TPS to be temporary rather than a long-term immigration program.
By the Numbers
- 330,000+ Haitians currently protected by TPS
- 1990 Year Congress created Temporary Protected Status
- 2010 Haiti earthquake that led to the TPS designation
- 15 years Many recipients have lived and worked legally in the U.S.
- 0 TPS is not a path to permanent residency or citizenship
Why Did Haitians Sue?
Haitian TPS holders have challenged that decision in federal court.
They argue the administration did not follow the law when it ended Haiti’s TPS designation, violated their constitutional right to due process and that the decision was motivated, at least in part, by racial discrimination rather than an objective assessment of conditions in Haiti.
A federal district judge temporarily blocked the administration from ending Haiti’s TPS while those claims were being considered.
Last month, however, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the administration could move forward with ending Haiti’s TPS designation while the lawsuit continues. The justices did not decide whether the Haitians’ constitutional claims are valid. Instead, they ruled that the administration does not have to wait until the entire lawsuit is resolved before implementing its decision.
The case remains before the federal district court, where the judge will continue considering the remaining constitutional and procedural claims. But unless another court order intervenes, the administration may proceed with ending TPS while the litigation continues.
What Happens if TPS Ends?
People who lose TPS also lose the legal authorization that allows them to live and work in the United States.
They do not automatically face deportation the day their TPS expires. However, they become subject to immigration enforcement unless they qualify for another legal status.
The Department of Homeland Security has urged affected immigrants to leave voluntarily rather than wait for enforcement action. In recent public statements and social media posts, the department has emphasized that TPS was always intended to be temporary and encouraged those losing the protection to self-deport if they have no other legal basis to remain in the country.
For many families, however, leaving voluntarily would mean walking away from jobs, homes, businesses and communities built over the past 15 years. Many also have U.S.-citizen children. Immigration attorneys expect many TPS holders to pursue every legal option available before deciding whether to leave the country.
Some TPS holders may eventually qualify for another immigration status through family relationships, employment or other legal avenues. Others may choose to seek legal immigration opportunities in another country, although that would depend on meeting that country’s immigration requirements. For many, however, those options are limited.
Can They Apply for Asylum Instead?
Some can, but asylum is very different from TPS.
TPS protects people because an entire country has become temporarily unsafe.
Asylum requires an individual to prove they have suffered persecution—or have a well-founded fear they will suffer persecution if they return to their home country—because of their race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group.
General violence, political instability, gang activity or economic hardship affecting an entire country usually are not enough, by themselves, to qualify for asylum.
That means many Haitians losing TPS may not qualify for asylum even though the U.S. State Department continues to warn Americans against traveling to Haiti because of widespread gang violence, kidnappings and civil unrest.
At the same time, the Trump administration has changed the way many asylum cases move through the immigration system. Under a new rule, asylum officers can refer applicants to immigration judges more quickly without conducting the more extensive review previously required. Administration officials say the change will reduce delays and speed immigration decisions. Critics argue it gives asylum seekers less opportunity to fully develop their cases before facing possible deportation.
A Broader Immigration Policy
Haiti is not the only country affected.
The Trump administration has also moved to end TPS protections for several other countries as part of a broader effort to reduce the use of the humanitarian program. Similar legal challenges are underway involving some of those designations.
Supporters of ending TPS argue that Congress intended the program to be temporary and that the executive branch has the legal authority to end it when conditions warrant. Opponents contend that Haiti remains dangerously unstable and that ending protections could uproot families and communities that have spent years building lives in the United States.
For the more than 330,000 Haitians whose future now depends on those legal and administrative decisions, the debate is no longer simply about immigration policy. It is about whether the lives they have spent the past 15 years building in America can continue.
