Court confirms that temporary deportation protections for Haitians are no longer in place

By Devan Cole, Priscilla Alvarez, Tami Luhby, CNN

(CNN) — A federal judge on Wednesday officially allowed the Trump administration to end temporary deportation protection for hundreds of thousands of Haitians, marking the final step, for now, in a months-long case that made its way to the Supreme Court.

The announcement from US District Judge Ana Reyes comes more than a month after the high court reversed a ruling she made earlier this year that halted the government’s plans to end a program, known as Temporary Protected Status, for Haitians who fled the country in recent years amid political unrest and on the heels of natural disasters.

“The court’s order, which had stayed the effective date of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s Termination of the Designation of Haiti for Temporary Protected Status pending judicial review, is no longer in effect,” Reyes wrote in a brief order.

The order puts to bed a lingering question that had caused confusion among the roughly 350,000 Haitians benefiting from the program. Following the Supreme Court’s decision in late June, it remained unclear when, exactly, the protections would be officially gone.

“As a result of today’s order implementing the Supreme Court’s decision, Haitian TPS holders – all of them non-criminals – can no longer legally work, and many are subject to removal to Haiti, which continues to be one of the most dangerous countries in the world,” said Geoff Pipoly, an attorney representing the Haitian TPS holders who brought the legal challenge.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement had already started to target TPS holders, including Haitians, whose status was set to expire, according to two sources familiar with the plans. Wednesday’s order paves the way for the administration to start deporting them back to a country that the State Department has repeatedly warned is dangerous and unstable.

“We’re going after them right now,” DHS Secretary Markwaye Mullin told NewsNation this week. “These individuals can either self-deport or we’ll arrest you and send you back. It’s that simple.”

In recent days, some Haitians have been called into ICE offices to be fitted with ankle monitors, which is an alternative form of detention long used by ICE that also restricts the movements of immigrants.

Some of those who had benefited from the program may not be affected by its undoing if they were pursuing other immigration relief, like asylum or other claims for legal status.

The case being overseen by Reyes will still continue in the meantime, with the Haitians continuing to press their claim that the administration acted with discriminatory intent when it nixed the protections, which allowed the Haitians to live and work in the US.

In several other cases challenging the administration’s decision to end TPS for people from Ethiopia, Burma and South Sudan, judges have in recent weeks blocked the administration from moving forward with its plans while they weigh new legal claims, sparking public backlash from the Trump administration, which argues that the status was only ever meant to be temporary.

The Supreme Court’s decision earlier this summer said that federal courts do not have the power to review challenges to the Homeland Security secretary’s decision to end TPS for a slew of countries based on claims the administration didn’t follow proper legal procedure. Reyes, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, had partially based her decision on a finding that then-Secretary Noem skirted the law when she ended the program.

The judge also concluded that the decision was likely fueled by racial animus toward Haitians, but the high court said the present evidence before her in the case did not support that finding. Now, attorneys for the Haitians will continue looking for additional evidence to strengthen their argument.

“Nothing in the decision suggests that the plaintiffs here cannot try to marshal the additional evidence necessary to prove their equal protection claim,” lawyers for the migrants told Reyes in a court filing last month.

Elder care industry suffers

The loss of the Haitian TPS holders will hit the elder care industry, including nursing homes and home care agencies, particularly hard.

Even before Wednesday’s decision, some nursing homes started letting go of these staffers when their work authorization ended early last week.

Westminster Communities of Florida terminated 12 Haitian TPS holders who worked as certified nursing assistants (CNAs), dining services staffers and housekeepers in its continuing care facilities. It will replace them with temporary workers, as needed, Amanda Birch, chief human resources officer, told CNN.

But the shift isn’t easy, Birch said.

“It’s disruptive to residents, as well, to have new team members come in that they don’t really know — when they develop relationships with these prior team members over the years,” she said.

Some of the TPS holders have hired attorneys in hopes of applying for another status that will give them work authorization, she said. Some plan to move to Canada, where they have relatives.

Another long-term care provider on the East Coast told CNN early last week that she would not lay off any of her 32 Haitian TPS holders until she is compelled to do so. Six of the staffers work in the provider’s assisted living facility and the rest in the nursing home. Many are CNAs, while others work in dietary and support roles. Several have worked for the provider for more than 20 years.

It’s hard to hire CNAs, and most of these staffers are immigrants, said the provider, who asked CNN not to use her or her facility’s name so as not to attract the attention of immigration officials. As the US population ages, even more CNAs will be needed.

Also, residents and their families depend on and appreciate the work that the Haitian TPS holders do, the provider said. She pointed out the multitude of letters of praise she’s received about one longtime employee.

“This is a person who does an important job that no one else wants to do,” the provider said. “We’re going to send her back to a place that’s unfamiliar, that’s war torn, that’s dangerous. A woman who’s paid taxes, who’s raised her children here, who has established roots here. For what? What are you trying to do?”

In addition to the elder care industry, Haitian TPS holders also work in the hospitality, retail and restaurant sectors — all of which will have to contend with the sudden loss of workers.

Nearly 190,000 Haitian TPS holders were employed in early 2025, according to an analysis by FWD.us, a policy and advocacy organization focused on immigration that supports TPS for Haitians. They contribute an estimated $5.9 billion to the US economy, as well as pay $1.6 billion in federal, payroll, state and local taxes.

This story has been updated with additional details.

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