Federal Court Blocks Trump’s Effort to Remove Haiti Immigration Protections

A federal appeals court has denied the Trump administration's attempt to eliminate temporary protected status for more than 350,000 Haitians living in the United States. The ruling prevents the deportation of Haitians who have been shielded from removal due to ongoing violence and instability in their home country.

A federal appeals court has denied the Trump administration’s request to eliminate immigration protections for over 350,000 Haitians currently residing and working legally in the United States.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit voted 2-1 on Friday to reject the administration’s appeal of a lower court decision that prevented the Department of Homeland Security from terminating Haiti’s Temporary Protected Status designation.

The humanitarian initiative protects qualifying immigrants from removal proceedings and grants them employment authorization in the United States.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has initiated efforts to eliminate TPS designations for twelve nations as part of Trump’s broader immigration enforcement strategy, contending the initiative was not designed to function as “de facto amnesty.”

The Trump administration sought to overturn District Judge Ana Reyes’ February ruling while pursuing their appeal. Her decision stemmed from a class-action case filed by Haitian immigrants attempting to maintain their legal status and avoid deportation.

Judge Reyes determined that Noem’s November decision to terminate the Haitians’ protected status likely contravened proper TPS cancellation protocols and violated constitutional equal protection guarantees under the Fifth Amendment.

The administration referenced previous Supreme Court decisions that permitted them to terminate TPS for Venezuelan nationals.

However, Circuit Judges Florence Pan and Brad Garcia, both Biden appointees, noted significant differences between the cases and emphasized that deported Haitians would face serious dangers, stating they would “be vulnerable to violence amid a ‘collapsing rule of law’ and lack access to life-sustaining medical care.”

Circuit Judge Justin Walker, appointed by Trump, disagreed with the majority decision, arguing the current case and previous Venezuelan litigation were “the legal equivalent of fraternal, if not identical, twins.”

The Department of Homeland Security declined to provide a statement regarding the court’s decision.

Haiti initially received TPS designation following the catastrophic 2010 earthquake. The United States has consistently extended this protection, with the most recent renewal occurring under the Biden administration in July 2024.

During that renewal, DHS referenced Haiti’s “simultaneous economic, security, political, and health crises,” which officials attributed to widespread gang control and governmental collapse.