WASHINGTON (BN24) — The Trump administration will terminate deportation relief for more than half a million Haitians, ending protections granted under a decades-old humanitarian program as it escalates efforts to reduce both legal and illegal immigration.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced Friday that Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for some 521,000 Haitian migrants will officially end on September 2. The move follows Noem’s earlier decision this year to shorten the duration of TPS protections for Haitians, effectively setting the stage for mass deportations unless migrants secure another form of legal status.
President Donald Trump, who campaigned on a pledge to curb immigration, has used the first months of his term to unwind protections that have shielded hundreds of thousands from removal. In February, Noem rescinded TPS for about 350,000 Venezuelans and thousands of Afghan and Cameroonian nationals, part of a broader strategy to limit humanitarian admissions.
The Supreme Court has largely cleared the path for these terminations. On May 19, justices ruled that the administration could proceed with ending TPS for Venezuelans. Another order issued May 30 permitted the immediate revocation of a different status, known as parole, for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans.
TPS, created by Congress in 1990, allows people to remain in the United States if their country has been devastated by natural disaster, war or extraordinary circumstances. The program requires the homeland security secretary to review conditions two months before protections expire to decide whether to renew, broaden, or end the designation.
In a statement Friday, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said that environmental conditions in Haiti had improved enough to justify returning its citizens, though the agency did not specify which factors led to that determination.
“The environmental situation in Haiti has improved enough that it is safe for Haitian citizens to return home,” the spokesperson said.
Advocacy groups and humanitarian organizations quickly condemned the decision, citing Haiti’s entrenched instability. The Caribbean nation has not held an election since 2016 and much of the capital, Port-au-Prince, remains under the control of heavily armed gangs. United Nations officials have repeatedly warned that insecurity and food shortages are worsening.
Despite those warnings, the Trump administration has frozen portions of previously pledged funding intended to support a U.N.-backed security mission in Haiti.
Trump has long argued that TPS and similar programs were exploited to bypass the immigration system and prolong unauthorized stays. During his first term, efforts to dismantle TPS protections for Haitians, Salvadorans and others were repeatedly blocked by federal judges, delaying removals for years.
With the Supreme Court now signaling a green light for further terminations, the administration appears determined to advance a sweeping rollback of humanitarian relief.
