A federal judge has paused for now the Trump administration's termination of Temporary Protected Status for more than 350,000 Haitians. The status, known as TPS, allows holders to live and work in the US and was set to expire after Tuesday.
In a harsh 83-page opinion, US District Court Judge Ana Reyes of the District of Columbia on Monday granted the request by five Haitian TPS holders to temporarily block the termination while the case works its way through the courts.
The plaintiffs are challenging the Department of Homeland Security's termination, arguing the agency didn't conduct the necessary review of whether it's safe to return to Haiti before deciding to terminate the protection. The suit also alleges the agency's decision stems, in part, from President Donald Trump's "racial, ethnic, and national-origin animus towards Haitians."
Reyes slammed DHS Secretary Kristi Noem for referring to certain immigrants, including Haitians, as "killers, leeches, or entitlement junkies"on X in December.Plus, the judge wrote, Noem "ignored Congress's requirement that she 'review the conditions' in Haiti only 'after' consulting 'with appropriate agencies.'"
"Plaintiffs charge that Secretary Noem preordained her termination decision and did so because of hostility to nonwhite immigrants," Reyes wrote. "This seems substantially likely."
The judge also cited Trump's repeated derogatory comments about Haitians.
"President Trump has referred to Haiti as a 'shithole country,' suggested Haitians 'probably have AIDS,' and complained that Haitian immigration is 'like a death wish for our country,' she wrote. "He has also promoted the false conspiracy theory that Haitian immigrants were 'eating the pets of the people' in Springfield, Ohio."
Haitian TPS holders are among the latest foreign-born residents whose lives are being upended by the Trump administration, which is focused onslashing the number of immigrantsentering and living in the US. DHS announced the termination of TPS designation for immigrants from multiple countries, including Honduras, Nepal and South Sudan, though federal judges have stymied many of those efforts.
TPS relief applies to people who would face extreme hardship if forced to return to homelands devastated by armed conflict or natural disasters. The recipients are vetted and are not eligible if they've been convicted of any felony or more than one misdemeanor in the US. The DHS secretary has discretion to designate a country for TPS.
Haitian immigrants became eligible after an earthquake rocked the country in 2010. The designation has since been renewed multiple times as the country faces a host of crises, including widespread violence by armed gangs, food insecurity, displacement and a leadership vacuum afterthe president was assassinated in 2021.
Asked for comment on the scheduled termination last week, DHS said Haiti's TPS program "was never intended to be a de facto asylum program, yet that's how previous administrations have used it for decades."
"The assertion that the only way we can take care of our seniors is by allowing unvetted illegal aliens and foreigners with criminal records to remain in the country is grossly false and lazy," DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to CNN.
After the ruling, McLaughlinposted on X, "Supreme Court, here we come. This is lawless activism that we will be vindicated on."
"Temporary means temporary and the final word will not be from an activist judge legislating from the bench," she wrote.
Advocates, however, cheered the ruling.
"It is also in all of our interests to keep families together and have people continue to work with dignity and build their lives here. We are the backbone of entire industries," Aline Gue, executive director of Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees, said in a statement. "We are raising U.S. citizen children,caring for the elderly, working in hospitals and schools, and organizing for the rights of all refugees, migrants and asylum seekers."
Noem last year tried to end Haitians' TPS status early but wasblocked by a federal judge.In that case, US District Judge Brian Cogan of the Eastern District of New York said Noem failed to follow the timeline and procedures mandated by Congress, including a review of current conditions in Haiti, before ending TPS.
Trump also tried to terminate TPS for Haitians in his first term but was blocked by another federal judge. DHS appealed, but the subsequent Biden administration withdrew the appeal.
This story has been updated with additional details.
CNN's Angelica Franganillo Diaz contributed to this report.
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