By Mary Campbell | Editorial credit: Ringo Chiu / Shutterstock.com
Washington, D.C.: Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem on Friday announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti, a decision that has drawn swift and fierce backlash from elected officials and immigrant advocates, particularly in New York.
The TPS designation for Haiti is now set to expire on August 3, 2025, with termination officially taking effect on Tuesday, September 2, 2025. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the decision followed a comprehensive review of country conditions and was made in consultation with U.S. government agencies, including the Department of State.
“This decision restores integrity in our immigration system and ensures that Temporary Protected Status is actually temporary,” a DHS spokesperson said. “The environmental situation in Haiti has improved enough that it is safe for Haitian citizens to return home.”
DHS added that Haitian nationals are encouraged to report their departure via the CBP Home app and, if eligible, pursue lawful immigration options through other channels.
However, critics argue the federal government’s portrayal of conditions in Haiti ignores the stark realities on the ground.
Leaders in New York Denounce Termination as ‘Cruel and Inhumane’
New York State Attorney General Letitia James and Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn issued a joint statement condemning the move as “devastating” and morally indefensible.
“This is a grave mistake that will have devastating and far-reaching consequences,” said Bichotte Hermelyn. “They are being asked to return to a country in collapse and disarray not by choice, but by force.”
Attorney General James, who has led national legal efforts to defend TPS protections, criticized the DHS decision as both “shameful” and factually flawed.
“The Department of Homeland Security has stated that conditions in Haiti have improved. But that assertion is dangerously detached from the truth,” said James. “Haiti remains under a Level 4 ‘Do Not Travel’ advisory due to life-threatening gang violence, kidnappings, and the absence of any reliable government infrastructure.”
James urged the Trump administration to reconsider the termination and called on Congress to enact legislation granting permanent legal status to TPS holders.
Community Leaders Warn of Humanitarian and Economic Fallout
Murad Awawdeh, President and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition, also condemned the decision, which he described as a politically motivated attack on Haitian immigrants.
“This move threatens the futures of Haitian New Yorkers who have lived, worked, raised families, and built their lives here,” Awawdeh said. “Forcibly removing them and sending them back to the instability and violence they once fled is brutal and inhumane.”
Awawdeh also disputed the justification behind the policy shift, accusing the Trump administration of using TPS revocations to further an anti-immigrant agenda. “There is no justifiable reason to put Haitian New Yorkers on a fast track to deportation other than politics and cruelty,” he said.
Voices from the Haitian Community
For Haitian TPS holders, the announcement has brought a wave of fear and uncertainty.
“I’ve lived in Brooklyn for 14 years. My two children were born here. I work, I pay taxes, I’ve never broken the law,” said Marceline whose name has been changed for privacy, a Haitian TPS recipient and home health aide. “Sending us back to Haiti now is not just unfair—it’s dangerous. There’s nothing for us there but fear and chaos. This country is our home now.”
A Community on Edge
More than 125,000 Haitians reside in New York, many of whom have lived in the U.S. for years under TPS protections. Advocates warn that removing their legal status will lead to family separations, economic hardship, and deportation to a country still reeling from widespread violence and political instability.
As the September 2 termination date looms, advocacy groups and elected officials are mobilizing to pressure Congress and the White House to reverse the decision—or, at the very least, offer a legislative path to permanent residency for Haitian TPS recipients.
“This is not just about immigration policy,” said Assemblymember Bichotte Hermelyn. “It is about justice, humanity, and our national identity.”
What is TPS?
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a humanitarian program that allows nationals of countries experiencing armed conflict, environmental disasters, or other extraordinary conditions to live and work legally in the U.S. for a limited time. Haiti was first designated for TPS in 2010 following a catastrophic earthquake.
This decision reverses an 18-month extension granted under former President Joe Biden‘s administration, which would have extended protections until February 2026.
Haiti’s Gang Violence
Haiti is facing severe political instability and a sharp rise in gang violence, plunging much of the country into crisis. Armed gangs now control roughly 80 percent of Port-au-Prince, carrying out kidnappings, extortion, and deadly confrontations with security forces.
The 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse further deepened the country’s turmoil, creating a power vacuum that remains unresolved.
Meanwhile, widespread poverty, food insecurity, and the collapse of the healthcare system have deepened the humanitarian emergency, displacing over a million people in search of safety.
How Many Haitian Migrants Live in the U.S.?
For over a decade, Haitian TPS holders have legally lived and worked in the U.S. after the catastrophic 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Many have built strong ties to their communities—starting businesses, buying homes, and contributing to key parts of the economy. Most importantly, thousands have American-born children who now risk being separated from their parents through deportation. According to the Migration Policy Institute (2023), the U.S. is home to between 700,000 and 1.15 million Haitian immigrants, including 500,000 TPS holders.
This country was built on immigration. Americans drain more from it than any immigrant group or class. Some of those Haitians, now being considered a drain, economically resurrected an American city that American Patriotic Pride couldn’t revive. And those other undocumented immigrants? They pay federal, state, and local taxes. Want to know why? Because it is their way of proving that they are here for good reasons and are of solid character. They are REQUIRED to do that by US law. At last count, in 2023, over 89 BILLION dollars was paid by the undocumented. The irony is that they pay into a system that they receive no benefits from, apart from a tax return. That means there are a lot of Americans who are surviving with the help of taxes paid by undocumented immigrants. But angry, misinformed Americans consider hard-working working honest people to be criminals based on the lack of a document that should be tied to what they do FOR the country, and how they honor it. And many do a lot better than Americans.
In a press release, DHS said that Noem “determined that conditions in Haiti no longer meet the TPS statutory requirements.”
“This decision restores integrity in our immigration system and ensures that Temporary Protective Status is actually temporary,” reads the quote from a DHS spokesperson in the press release. “The environmental situation in Haiti has improved enough that it is safe for Haitian citizens to return home. We encourage these individuals to take advantage of the Department’s resources in returning to Haiti, which can be arranged through the CBP Home app. Haitian nationals may pursue lawful status through other immigration benefit requests, if eligible.”
In a post on X, Warren strongly disagreed, arguing that return to Haiti is dangerous and an “imminent threat” to those who were previously covered by the temporary status.
“The Trump Admin just decided to send thousands of innocent people who have been living and working here legally into imminent danger in Haiti,” Warren wrote.
“Trump will tear apart families, rip up communities, and leave businesses and nursing homes shorthanded,” she said. “And no one will be safer.”
During his first term in office, Trump faced months of backlash for reportedly referring to Haiti as a “shithole country” in a meeting on Capitol Hill.