DHS Sued Over Ending Deportation Protection for Haitians, Venezuelans

The ending of temporary protected status violates federal law, according to the lawsuit.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security in Washington on Aug. 12, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

President Donald Trump’s administration has illegally ended protection against deportation for nationals of Haiti and Venezuela, according to a new lawsuit.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans and moving to end the protection for numerous Haitians violates federal law, immigrant advocate groups said in the March 3 suit, which was lodged in federal court in Massachusetts.

Under TPS, the homeland security secretary can shield certain immigrants from deportation if the secretary concludes that temporary and extraordinary conditions in the individuals’ home countries prevent their safe return.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem chose in February to remove TPS status for some 348,000 Venezuelans because she determined that keeping the protection in place is contrary to the United States’ interest.

She later partially rescinded the protection and could completely remove TPS status for about 500,000 Haitians.

Noem, though, lacked the authority to rescind the protection, which was authorized by her predecessor, Haitian-Americans United and other groups said in the suit.

“The TPS statute does not authorize the Secretary to pull the rug out from under vulnerable TPS recipients and rescind an extension that has already been granted; she simply has no statutory authority to do so,” they stated.

The organizations are requesting the court declare that both moves violate federal law and the U.S. Constitution. The court should make clear the vacaturs must be set aside and prevent officials from enforcing them, they said.

Trump was named as a defendant in addition to Noem and the DHS.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment. A DHS spokesperson emailed The Epoch Times to say that the agency cannot comment on open or pending litigation.

A separate case challenging the decision on the Venezuelans was filed in federal court in Maryland in February. Two groups offered similar arguments, including that DHS cannot vacate a prior TPS extension.

DHS has not yet filed a response to that suit.

When Trump took office on Jan. 20, 17 countries, including Afghanistan, El Salvador, Nepal, and Sudan, had been designated for TPS.

Trump, in a Jan. 20 executive order, directed officials to make sure TPS designations were consistent with the law and “are appropriately limited in scope and made for only so long as may be necessary to fulfill the textual requirements of that statute.”

A DHS spokesperson said in a statement after Noem acted on Haiti’s TPS designation, “President Trump and Secretary Noem are returning TPS to its original status: temporary.”