Federal Government Speeds up End of Deportation Protection for 500,000 Haitians

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in an undated file photograph. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement via Getty Images

The federal government on Feb. 20 said it is ending protection against deportation for some 500,000 Haitians early.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem partially rescinded an extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian nationals that had been approved during the previous administration, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement.

Under TPS, the homeland security secretary can protect nationals of certain countries from deportation if the secretary determines there are “extraordinary and temporary conditions” in the countries that prevent the immigrants from returning to their homes safely. The protection is typically extended multiple times once granted.

In June 2024, then-Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas extended TPS for Haitians for 18 months, to Feb. 3, 2026, citing ongoing violence in Haiti as well as difficulties residents face in accessing food, water and health care.

Noem has partially vacated the extension, setting a new end date of Aug. 3, 2025, the DHS said in an official notice.

Noem made the move because previous administration officials did not say why they chose an 18-month extension versus a shorter period of time, according to the agency. The default extension period set by Congress is six months. The Biden-era officials also did not explain how they determined that allowing Haitian nationals to remain in the United States is not contrary to the U.S. national interest.

The law giving the homeland security secretary the power to issue protection under TPS says the secretary may not place a country in the program or extend protection if the secretary concludes that doing so would be “contrary to the national interest of the United States.”

“Abbreviating the period from 18 to 12 months will allow for a fresh review of country conditions in Haiti and of whether such conditions remain both ‘extraordinary’ and ’temporary,' whether Haitian may return in safety, and whether it is contrary to the U.S. national interest to continue to permit the Haitian nationals to remain temporarily in the United States,” the notice states.

Noem will study the matter and could take additional action, the agency said.

Some lawmakers condemned the step.

“The turmoil in Haiti is real, and instead of turning our backs, we should be supporting the Haitian people,” Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) wrote on the social media platform X. “The United States has long been a beacon of hope for those seeking refuge from danger, and we cannot abandon that responsibility now.”

Haitians were first granted TPS in 2010, and attempts by the federal government during President Donald Trump’s first term to end the protection were blocked by the courts.

The number of Haitians protected through TPS was about 57,000 in 2011, according to federal data. That number soared to about 520,000 in 2024.

“Biden and Mayorkas attempted to tie the hands of the Trump administration by extending Haiti’s Temporary Protected Status by 18 months—far longer than justified or necessary,” a DHS spokesperson said in a Feb. 20 statement. “We are returning integrity to the TPS system, which has been abused and exploited by illegal aliens for decades. President Trump and Secretary Noem are returning TPS to its original status: temporary.”

Trump while campaigning said he would revoke the legal status of Haitians living in Springfield, Ohio, after city residents complained that immigrants there were causing quality-of-life issues.

About one million immigrants from 17 countries were covered by TPS when Trump took office in January.

Noem removed TPS for many Venezuelans in the United States earlier in February after determining that there have been improvements in the country since a 2023 assessment of the conditions there.

Even if the conditions were still temporary and extraordinary, keeping the TPS protection for Venezuelans runs counter to the national interest, the DHS notice said at the time.

Two nonprofits sued Noem and DHS on Feb. 20, alleging that Noem’s vacatur of the Venezuela decision was invalid.

“DHS lacks authority to ‘vacate’ a prior TPS extension,” the complaint, filed in federal court in Maryland, stated. “The TPS statute tightly restricts the procedures and timeframe by which a TPS designation can be terminated, and DHS cannot flagrantly ignore these restrictions.”