US-based Haitians are buoyed but wary

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Haitians living in the U.S. were given a reprieve, at least for the time being, when a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from ending temporary immigration protections that were initially put in place after the catastrophic 2010 earthquake that rocked their homeland. U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington granted a request on Monday to pause the termination of temporary protected status, or TPS, for Haitians while a lawsuit challenging the administration's effort to end it proceeds. The TPS designation for people from the Caribbean island country had been scheduled to expire Tuesday. "We can breathe for a little bit," said Rose-Thamar Joseph, the operations director of the Haitian Support Center in Springfield, an Ohio city that is home to roughly 15,000 Haitians whom President Donald Trump denigrated in 2024 by falsely suggesting they ate their neighbors' cats and dogs. "It is not a final victory, because a judge cannot redesign a country for TPS or extend the TPS, but it means a lot for us." The TPS designation allows roughly 350,000 Haitians to live and work in the U.S., though it doesn't provide a legal pathway to citizenship. The Homeland Security secretary may grant the designation if conditions in home countries are deemed unsafe for return due to a natural disaster, political instability or other dangers. Haiti is one of several countries that Trump has aggressively sought to strip of TPS protections as part of his administration's wider, mass deportation effort. In her written opinion, Reyes said the plaintiffs' lawsuit was likely to prevail on its merits and that she found it "substantially likely" that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem preordained her termination decision because of "hostility to nonwhite immigrants." Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin denounced the ruling as "lawless activism." "Haiti's TPS was granted following an earthquake that took place over 15 years ago," she said in a statement. "It was never intended to be a de facto amnesty program, yet that's how previous administrations have used it for decades. The Trump administration is restoring integrity to our immigration system to keep our homeland and its people safe." The administration could appeal or try to address the judge's concerns in an attempt to overcome legal hurdles. During Trump's first term, the president made three attempts at a travel ban before drafting one that passed legal muster in the Supreme Court in 2018. Trump initially proposed an all-encompassing Muslim travel ban but made adjustments as he faced court injunctions along the way. Many Haitians in Springfield were worried that if their TPS status were ended, the administration might surge immigration officers to the city to begin rounding them up. Hours before the stay was granted, though, McLaughlin said DHS did not "have any new operations to announce." Haiti's TPS status was activated after the 2010 earthquake and was extended multiple times. The country has since been racked by gang violence that has displaced hundreds of thousands of people. In addition to Haitians, Noem has terminated protections for about 600,000 Venezuelans, 60,000 people from Honduras, Nicaragua and Nepal, more than 160,000 Ukrainians and thousands of people from Afghanistan and Cameroon. Some have pending lawsuits in federal courts. "If the termination stands, people will almost certainly die," attorneys for Haitian TPS holders wrote in a court filing in December. "Some will likely be killed, others will likely die from disease, and yet others will likely starve to death." They said the decision to end Haiti's status was motivated by racial animus, and that Noem had failed to consider whether there was an ongoing armed conflict that would pose a "serious threat" to personal safety, as required by law. DHS, though, contends that conditions in Haiti have improved. In a November announcement about the ending of TPS for Haitians, the government said there had been some positive developments for Haiti, including authorization of a new, multinational force to combat gangs. Noem determined allowing Haitians to remain in the U.S. was against the national interest, the notice said. In a December court filing, administration attorneys said the plaintiffs' claims of racial animus were based on statements "taken out of context, often from other speakers and from years ago, and without direct links to the Secretary's determinations." "Rather, Secretary Noem provided reasoned, facially sufficient explanations for her determinations," they argued. But many Haitians, including Jerome Bazard, a member of the First Haitian Evangelical Church of Springfield, say it's still not safe enough to return to Haiti. "They can't go to Haiti because it's not safe. Without the TPS, they can't work. And if they can't work, they can't eat, they can't pay bills," he said. "You're killing the people." ___ Associated Press reporters Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City and Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus contributed to this report.