Trump Terminates Legal Status for 500,000 Haitians in the U.S., Wants to Deport Them Back to Haiti

The Trump administration has officially announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti, impacting more than 500,000 Haitian nationals currently residing in the United States. Many of them have been living in the U.S. for years, some of them for more than ten years. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed that the TPS designation will expire on August 3, 2025, with removals beginning as early as September 2, 2025. This decision effectively cancels the 18-month extension granted by former President Joe Biden, which would have protected Haitian nationals through February 2026.

According to Newsweek, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says this move reinforces the original intent of TPS as a short-term solution. “This decision restores integrity in our immigration system and ensures that Temporary Protected Status is actually temporary,” a DHS spokesperson said. The announcement has ignited fierce criticism, with many advocacy groups warning that hundreds of thousands of individuals are now at risk of being sent back to a nation gripped by crisis

Haiti continues to endure widespread political unrest, extreme poverty, and a surge in gang-related violence. Armed gangs reportedly control about 80% of Port-au-Prince, the capital, where they engage in kidnappings, extortion, and violent clashes with authorities. The country is also still reeling from the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, which created a power vacuum and exacerbated the instability. With more than a million people internally displaced, basic services such as healthcare and food access have collapsed.

Despite DHS’s claim that Haiti’s conditions have “improved to the point where Haitians can return home in safety,” many experts and Haitian-American leaders strongly disagree. Tessa Petit, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Coalition and a Haitian immigrant, told Newsweek: “I’m still in shock, but I’m totally disgusted. This is a complete lie… there has to be a way to stop this administration from sending people to their deaths.” She emphasized that political chaos and unhealed wounds from past disasters still plague the nation.

Under U.S. law, DHS is required to review conditions in designated countries before TPS decisions are made. In this case, DHS cited findings from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and consultations with the State Department. However, critics argue that these assessments ignore the worsening violence and humanitarian emergency on the ground. The administration has also encouraged Haitian nationals to use the CBP Home app to arrange returns and apply for alternative forms of legal status, if eligible.

Since the devastating 2010 earthquake, Haitian TPS holders have legally lived and worked in the U.S., building families, businesses, and communities. Many now face heartbreaking choices, especially those with American-born children who risk being separated through deportation. According to the Migration Policy Institute, the U.S. is home to between 700,000 and 1.15 million Haitian immigrants, including roughly 500,000 TPS holders whose future has now been thrown into uncertainty.