Buenos Aires, Argentina – The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday over the Trump administration’s attempt to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which protects Haitian immigrants from deportation.
The Supreme Court’s decision, expected to be handed down in the coming months, could affect the estimated 350,000 Haitians currently living in the United States.
The Department of Homeland Security, then led by Kristi Noem, justified its February decision by saying, “Noem has determined that there are no special or temporary circumstances in Haiti that would prevent the Haitian nationals (…) from returning to safety” and that “it would be contrary to the national interest of the United States to allow the Haitian nationals (…) to remain.”
But immigrant rights advocates paint a different picture.
Daniel Berlin, Head of Safeguarding Pathways Policy at the International Rescue Committee (IRC), said: Latin America Report “Haiti continues to face complex crises of food insecurity, displacement, deadly disease outbreaks, and surging gang violence, posing risks to all those forcibly returned.”
“With gangs increasingly using sexual violence to instill fear in communities and a 200 per cent rise in forced child recruitment, some groups are particularly at risk, particularly women and children,” he added.
Haitians were first granted TPS after a devastating earthquake in 2010, and have seen protection extended several times since then, including after the assassination of Jovenel Moise, the Caribbean nation’s last elected president.
Since Moïse’s assassination in 2021, Haiti has suffered institutional collapse and rampant gang violence.
According to the United Nations, more than 8,100 killings were recorded across the country between January and November last year, with up to half of the members of these deadly armed groups being children.
As a result, the IRC reports that 73% of households do not feel safe where they sleep and 60% of households do not send their children to school for fear of kidnapping, recruitment or cross-border attacks.
“If TPS ends, the administration could begin legal proceedings to immediately deport people with no other status,” Berlin warned.
Due to the realities on the ground, the plaintiffs alleged that the Trump administration did not follow due process in assessing the situation in Haiti.
that new york times Earlier this week it was reported that government officials had distorted evidence to justify the removal of TPS in Haiti. Internal emails show that data that did not support the administration’s claims was removed from the research report.
Moreover, the lawyers, citing Trump’s frequent use of inflammatory language against the Haitian people, argued that the administration’s decision was racially motivated and violated the Constitution’s ban on discriminatory government action.
Trump has previously described Haitian immigrants as undesirable because they come from a “dirty, filthy, disgusting” country, and claimed they ate a neighbor’s pet in Springfield, Ohio.
A lower court judge handling the case delayed the Haitian’s termination of TPS, finding that Noem’s decision was in fact predetermined and not informed by meaningful analysis.
Government lawyers have asked the conservative Supreme Court to intervene, arguing that the court has no right to review Noem’s decision-making.
At the same meeting, the Supreme Court also heard arguments regarding TPS for 6,100 Syrians in the United States.
Featured Image Description: A protest at the U.S. Capitol on March 6, 2026, opposing the removal of temporary protected status for Haitian immigrants.
Featured image credit: @MarioNawfal via X
