The U.S. Department of Justice has asked the Supreme Court of the United States to allow the government to move forward with ending deportation protections for more than 350,000 Haitian immigrants currently living in the country. The request, filed Wednesday, marks the latest step in an ongoing legal battle over the government’s attempt to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for several nations. If the designation is terminated, many of the affected immigrants could become subject to deportation. The Supreme Court has already allowed the administration to scale back similar protections for Venezuelan migrants, while another case involving Syrian nationals is still under review.
Haiti first received TPS in 2010 following a catastrophic earthquake that killed more than 300,000 people and devastated the country’s infrastructure. During his first term, Donald Trump attempted to cancel Haiti’s TPS designation, but legal challenges prevented the change from taking effect before his presidency ended. After returning to office, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced plans to end the program for Haiti, with the change scheduled to take effect on February 3. She described the decision as a “strategic vote of confidence” in Haiti’s future, suggesting that the move aligns with broader efforts to support a more secure and self-reliant nation.
However, five Haitian nationals filed a lawsuit in December seeking to block the termination. Last month, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes ruled in their favor, arguing that the administration had not adequately justified the decision and suggesting the move may have been influenced by racial bias. Since then, Noem has stepped down and been replaced by Markwayne Mullen as head of the Department of Homeland Security. After a divided appellate panel declined to overturn the lower court’s decision, Solicitor General D. John Sauer asked the Supreme Court to intervene, warning that the ruling’s legal reasoning could threaten numerous immigration policies enacted by the current administration.
