Judge rules against US plan to strip 350,000 Haitians of legal status, notes Noem’s ‘racial animus’, Trump.
A federal judge late Monday blocked an end to protections that have allowed about 350,000 Haitians to stay in the US, dealing with President Donald Trump’s immigration plan another legal, or perhaps temporary, issue.
US District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington granted a request for a temporary halt to the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians while the opposing case is pending. The suspension, which was scheduled for Tuesday, “will be void, and may have legal consequences,” he wrote.
Reyes said in an 83-page opinion that the plaintiffs were likely to prevail on the merits of the case, and found it “very likely” that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem premeditated the decision to revoke her and was “motivated, at least in part, by racial prejudice.”
While the ruling provided temporary relief to the Haitian people, the next legal steps were unclear.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin criticized the decision as an act of lawlessness.
“Haiti’s TPS was given following the earthquake that happened 15 years ago,” he said. “It was never intended to be an amnesty program, but that’s how previous administrations have used it for decades.”
Haiti is not safe, the plaintiffs argue
The judge, who was appointed by former president Joe Biden, said Noem had great discretion in setting policy as DHS secretary but “did not have unlimited discretion” and had to consult with other agencies about the situation in Haiti.
“Secretary Noem is the one who makes the decisions,” Reyes wrote. “But the Secretary can’t just throw false or false statement after false or false assertion – no matter how outlandish – against the wall and hope that something will stick.”
In another example, Noem proposed the extradition of Haitian gang members who had entered the country, but Reyes noted that the government did not provide evidence of what happened to TPS officials, who had previously been vetted.
Temporary Protected Status can be granted by the secretary of homeland security if conditions in home countries are deemed unsafe for return due to natural disaster, political instability or other dangers. Although it gives TPS holders the right to live and work in the US, it does not provide a legal path to citizenship.
Haiti’s TPS status came into effect in 2010 after the catastrophic earthquake and has been extended several times. The country is plagued by gang violence that has left hundreds of thousands of people dead, and plans to hold elections this year seem to be in jeopardy.
“If the cuts stand, people will almost certainly die,” lawyers for Haiti’s TPS owners wrote in a December court filing. “Some will be killed, some will die of disease, and some will die of hunger.”
Haiti has qualified for the 2026 World Cup for the first time in 50 years, but the travel ban and immigration crackdown will keep many fans away from US games. Nationally, CBC’s Eli Glasner talks to Haitians about the meaning of this era and explains why some are calling FIFA hypocritical.
A government announcement in November announcing the end of TPS to Haitians said there had been positive developments in Haiti, including the authorization of a new, international force to fight gangs.
The judge said in support of that position, the government had well-chosen statements made by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, and noted a statement in October by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicating that Haiti faces “immediate security challenges.”
The court said that Noem, in making his determination, did not contact Rubio, the American ambassador to Haiti or the US Ambassador there.
The decision also left Noem’s words three days after he announced the end of protection for the Haitian people, calling for a ban on travel from Haiti and “all the bad countries that filled our nation with murderers, filth, and the disenfranchised.”
Reyes took pains to highlight that the five Haitian defendants in the case were not “killers, liars or proper junkies,” but a neurologist, a software engineer, a registered nurse, a laboratory assistant and a college student.
Returns are welcome in the city of Ohio
While campaigning for president in 2024, Trump disparaged the Haitian community of about 15,000 people in Springfield, Ohio, including in one of his debates with Democrat Kamala Harris the claim that some immigrants were eating pets in the predominantly white, working-class city of about 59,000 people.
Reyes took note of those comments, as well as reports that Trump during his first term called Haiti one of the “shithole” countries.
In the weeks following his comments, schools, government buildings and the homes of elected officials in the city received bomb threats.
Earlier Monday, a dozen religious leaders and hundreds of congregations in Springfield sang and prayed together in support of Haitian immigrants who fear their protected status could end this week.
Lynn Tramonte, executive director of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance, said “an 11th hour acquittal is welcome. But people can’t live their lives like this, looking at the future of their families in a court case.”
The Trump administration has aggressively sought to eliminate temporary protections, making many people eligible for deportation. The moves are part of a broader effort by management to lay off more people.
In addition to migrants from Haiti, Noem has stopped protecting about 600,000 Venezuelans, 60,000 people from Honduras, Nicaragua and Nepal, more than 160,000 Ukrainians and thousands of people from Afghanistan and Cameroon. Many of those decisions have been challenged in the courts.
