Judge blocks Kristi Noem from ending temporary protected status for Haitians | US immigration

A federal judge blocked the Trump administration’s offer to end temporary expulsion protections and work permits for around 521,000 Haitian immigrants before the scheduled expiration date.

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Internal Security canceled the extension of Joe Biden from the temporary protected status (TPS) for Haitians until February 3. He called at the end of the program on August 3, and last week postponed this date until September 2.

US District Judge Brian Cogan in Brooklyn, however, said that the secretary of internal security Kristi Noem had not followed the instructions and a calendar mandated by the congress to reconsider the designation of the TPS for Haitians.

“Secretary Noem does not have the statutory or inherent authority to partially leave the designation of the TPS of a country”, which makes his actions “illegal”, wrote Cogan. “The complainants are likely to succeed (and, in fact, to succeed) on the bottom.”

Cogan also said that the interests of Haitians are able to live and work in the United States “prevail over potential damage” to the United States government, which remains free to enforce immigration laws and end the status of TPS as prescribed by Congress.

Donald Trump made the repression of legal and illegal immigration a central board of his second mandate of the White House.

Cogan was appointed to the bench by George W Bush, also a republican.

In a statement, Tricia McLaughlin, spokesperson for internal security, said that the designation of the Haiti TPS had been granted following the 2010 earthquake in this country and was never designed as a “de facto” asylum program.

“This decision delays justice and seeks to insebel the constitutionally acquired powers of the president,” she said. “We expect a superior court to empty us.”

The federal courts prevented Trump from putting an end to most registration at the TPS during his first mandate.

Nine Haitian TPS holders, an association of churches and a chapter of the International Union of Service Employees filed the trial on March 14, claiming that Noem had not made a required revision of the current conditions in Haiti before ending the TPS early.

More than a million people, more than half of them, are moved to Haiti, where gang violence is widespread despite a security mission supported by the United Nations last year.

“Although the fight is far from over, this is an important step,” said Manny Pastreich, president of the 32BJ local section of Seiu, whose members include holders of the Haitian TPS, in a press release.

Noem shares Trump’s hard position on immigration issues and has moved to end TP for around 350,000 Venezuelans as well as thousands of people from Afghanistan and Cameroon.

On May 19, the United States Supreme Court allowed TPS to end for the Venezuelans, reporting that other endings could be authorized.

Noem has the power to grant TP for six to eight months to people from countries with natural disasters, armed conflicts or other extraordinary events.

The Haitian complainants also said that the suspension of their TPS status was partly motivated by the racial animus, violating their constitutional right to equal protection.

Trump falsely declared that in a debate in September 2024 with the Democratic candidate Kamala Harris that Haitian immigrants from Springfield, Ohio, ate pets, arousing the fear of reprisals against Haitians.