A federal judge on Monday blocked the Trump administration’s planned revocation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for roughly 350,000 Haitians, granting a last-minute reprieve to people who were due to lose their protections the next day. U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes issued an indefinite pause on the termination, prohibiting the federal government from removing active enrollees’ legal status and work authorizations or proceeding with arrests and deportations tied to the termination.
In an opinion accompanying her order, Judge Reyes sharply criticized Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s decision to end Haiti’s TPS designation. Reyes found the agency’s action to be “arbitrary and capricious” and in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, concluding that the department failed to adequately weigh the substantial evidence of current danger in Haiti — including political instability, widespread gang violence, and severe poverty.
Reyes also found that the decision was partly driven by racial animus, pointing to disparaging public remarks by Secretary Noem and by former President Trump about Haiti and immigrants. The judge emphasized that, while public officials have First Amendment rights to make harsh statements, they remain bound by the Constitution and the APA to apply facts to the law when administering TPS — a standard she found unmet in the record.
A Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman, Tricia McLaughlin, said the administration will seek Supreme Court review, declaring, “Supreme Court, here we come,” and calling the ruling “lawless activism” the government expects to overturn. McLaughlin argued Haiti’s TPS originated after an earthquake more than 15 years ago and said the designation was never intended to become a de facto amnesty, contending prior administrations extended it too long.
Congress created TPS in 1990 to provide temporary legal refuge to nationals of countries experiencing armed conflict, environmental disasters, or other emergencies. Both Democratic and Republican administrations have used the program. The Trump administration has sought to terminate many TPS designations, a move that has threatened hundreds of thousands of people from countries including Afghanistan, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Honduras, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, and Venezuela. The administration contends TPS can encourage illegal immigration and has been improperly prolonged over time.