A Haitian flag hangs outside a store in Logansport, Indiana on July 7, 2026. (Photo by Jack Forrest/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
WASHINGTON – Hundreds of thousands of Haitian immigrants could lose their legal status and be deported as early as Tuesday after the U.S. Supreme Court last month allowed the Trump administration to revoke their humanitarian protections.
The impending loss of momentary protected status for between 330,000 and 350,000 immigrants comes amid the Trump administration’s deportation campaign and ongoing attacks on TPS recipients from countries deemed too unsafe to return. The State Department strongly discourages any visit to Haiti due to kidnappings and gang violence.
The Department of Homeland Security has already asked those who will lose their TPS to deport themselves.
“Temporary Protected Status is just that – TEMPORARY,” DHS said in a social media post on Monday. “For those with canceled TPS, it’s closing time. You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.”
Several media reports have indicated that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to aggressively enforce Haitian immigrants who lose their legal status, starting with the immense population in Springfield, Ohio.
The state’s Republican governor, Mike DeWine, said CBS News on Monday He was unaware of these DHS plans and called any enforcement actions against Haitians a “mistake.”
Subjudicial stay
The exact timing of status loss is complicated by a federal judge in Washington, DCwhich has not yet implemented the Supreme Court’s ruling in the case and lifted a previous stay preventing the government from ending TPS for Haitians. A decision that may impose another delay while the court hears other arguments is expected this week.
The U.S. Department of Justice has proposed a briefing schedule to continue arguments in the District of Columbia court. The final letter is due November 6th. Lawyers for Haitians at TPS plan to file a letter by Friday outlining their legal arguments following the Supreme Court’s decision.
Federal judges have suspended TPS terminations for nationals of Burma, Ethiopia and South Sudan. Before the start of the second Trump administration last year, there were about 1.3 million immigrants from 17 countries in the TPS.
Companies, families in transition
Immigration advocates and business leaders have criticized the administration’s policy of repealing TPS.
“Most adult TPS holders are actively participating in the labor market and working in industries that already experience persistent labor shortages,” Rebecca Shi, CEO of American Business Immigration Coalition Action, said in a statement. “Laying off these workers not only upends lives, but also weakens industries that are already struggling to meet demand.”
The Haitian Bridge Alliance, which advocates for Haitian TPS holders, said in a statement that the loss of deportation protections will lead to family separation because many recipients have children with U.S. citizenship.
“What we could be witnessing will be one of the largest family separation events in modern history,” the Haitian Bridge Alliance said.
Other paths are closing
Some TPS recipients can apply for other immigration status, such as asylum, although not everyone can apply or qualify.
For example, non-citizens with TPS due to a natural disaster are unlikely to meet the asylum criteria Fear of persecution “based on race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion,” according to the federal law.
Furthermore, the Trump administration issue a rule On Tuesday, asylum officials will be allowed to immediately send asylum seekers before immigration judges without conducting a hearing or presenting key evidence of the applicant’s credibility, leading to a quick rejection and deportation.
The recent rule and the loss of TPS mean that recipients are unlikely to have much chance of winning asylum applications.
Supreme Court ruling
Last month, the Supreme Court ruled that courts were barred from considering whether then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s decision to end the TPS designation followed due process.
Although the lawsuit was filed by TPS recipients from Haiti and Syria, the decision could also impact other TPS-related challenges to the Trump administration’s efforts to end the designation.
Following the Supreme Court ruling, lawyers representing TPS recipients in courts across the country are changing their complaints.
They argue that revoking TPS status, including work authorization, is a violation of the Due Process Clause of the 5th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which states that the government cannot deprive a person of his “life, liberty, or property” without following certain procedures.
Lawyers have also argued that the TPS terminations were based on racial hostility rather than improved conditions in the country.
They cite President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign statements that falsely accused Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, of eating pets.
