Hundreds of Thousands of Haitian Immigrants To Lose Protected Status
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem revoked their Temporary Protected Status and they could be deported in August.
Marie Guillou, front left, hugs and worships with a fellow congregant at the First Haitian Evangelical Church in Springfield, Ohio, on Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
WASHINGTON — U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem Thursday cut protections for hundreds of thousands of Haitian immigrants, leaving them vulnerable to deportations by August.
“We are returning integrity to the TPS system, which has been abused and exploited by illegal aliens for decades,” a DHS official said in a statement. “President Trump and Secretary Noem are returning TPS to its original status: temporary.”
It’s the second time Noem has revoked an extension of Temporary Protected Status renewed under the Biden administration. TPS allows people from countries deemed too dangerous to return to — due to violence, natural disasters or other unstable circumstances — to obtain U.S. work permits and protection from deportation.
More than 300,000 Haitians have TPS, which stems from the 2008 earthquake in Haiti, and their extension was granted until February 2026, but they now have protections only until August. It’s unlikely that Noem will renew the status.
During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump and JD Vance spread false rumors about Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, eating residents’ pets. Trump referred to those Haitians with TPS as being in the country without legal authorization, despite their legal status.
More than 300,000 Haitians have TPS, which stems from the 2008 earthquake in Haiti.
Noem has often criticized the use of TPS and referred to the program as being “abused and manipulated.” She recently revoked the Biden administration’s TPS extension for roughly 600,000 Venezuelans and declined to renew TPS protections for a portion of that group — about 350,000 Venezuelans — that is set to expire in April.
A lawsuit was filed Thursday by a TPS organization challenging the Trump administration’s decision to revoke extensions and refuse renewals for those Venezuelans.
There are roughly 1 million people with TPS status.
It’s unclear if Noem will revoke other extensions granted under the Biden administration in January.
The Biden administration extended TPS for another 18 months for 103,000 Ukrainians and 1,900 Sudanese until October 2026. The Biden administration also extended TPS for 232,000 Salvadorans until September 2026.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to New from the States’ request for comment.
This is not the first time the Trump administration has tried to end TPS for Haiti. In 2018, during the first Trump administration, the president tried to end TPS status for Haiti, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Sudan, but was stymied by the courts.
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