The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on June 28 that more than 300,000 Haitians already in the United States would be given temporary legal status through Feb. 3, 2026.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas determined that an extension and redesignation of Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) was warranted due to ongoing “extraordinary and temporary conditions.”
Applications for temporary legal status will be opened on July 1 to an estimated 309,000 additional Haitian nationals and individuals the DHS identifies as “having no nationality who last habitually resided in Haiti” who have been in the United States before or since June 3.
They will also be able to apply for employment authorization and travel authorization.
Created by Congress in 1990, TPS can be granted to citizens from countries experiencing natural disasters or civil strife. It does not offer a path to permanent residency status or citizenship but it is renewable for designated periods of time.
Haiti was in the headlines earlier this year when gang violence erupted in and around its capital, Port-au-Prince. It necessitated the evacuation of U.S. citizens and caused concern for Florida officials that an influx of displaced persons could be on its way.
The report also stated that from March to June this year, all areas of the country are either in Phase 3 (Crisis) or Phase 4 (Emergency), indicating “the severity of the food security situation in the country.”
“We are providing this humanitarian relief to Haitians already present in the United States given the conditions that existed in their home country as of June 3, 2024,” said Mr. Mayorkas. “In doing so, we are realizing the core objective of the TPS law and our obligation to fulfill it.”
As of March 31, more than 860,000 foreign nationals in the United States were protected under TPS. In addition to Haiti, they hail from 16 countries on five continents, including Afghanistan, Cameroon, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Nepal, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela, and Yemen.
That protection is set to expire for 555 Somalis on Sept. 17 and 1,840 Yemenis on Sept. 3. The others will remain protected through the November election and the start of 2025.