The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Friday said it is terminating the deportation shield for more than 500,0000 Haitian nationals who entered the United States under the Biden administration.
The agency, which shortened the duration of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for some 521,000 Haitians earlier this year, will terminate their status on Sept. 2.
It came after the Supreme Court ruled on May 19 that the Trump administration could proceed with ending TPS for Venezuelans, signaling that other terminations may also be permitted to move forward.
The court, in a separate order on May 30, said that the administration could immediately revoke a separate status known as parole for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans.
“This decision restores integrity in our immigration system and ensures that Temporary Protective Status is actually temporary,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement on Friday. “The environmental situation in Haiti has improved enough that it is safe for Haitian citizens to return home.”
The spokesperson added that Haitians who are currently in the country and were shielded from deportation under TPS should “take advantage of the Department’s resources in returning to Haiti, which can be arranged through the CBP Home app,” referring to self-deportation efforts that were launched by the Trump administration earlier this year.
“Haitian nationals may pursue lawful status through other immigration benefit requests, if eligible,” the statement added.
The temporary protection program, created by Congress in 1990, is available to foreign nationals whose country of origin has experienced armed conflict, natural disaster, or a similar event. Two months before the status expires, the DHS secretary must determine whether to renew it, expand it to include new arrivals from the country, or terminate it.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem indicated in Friday’s announcement that the conditions in Haiti no longer meet the TPS requirements, based on a review “of the conditions in Haiti, and in consultation with the Department of State.”
The agency added that Noem has “determined that, overall, country conditions have improved to the point where Haitians can return home in safety,” and that she has determined that allowing Haitians to stay in the United States is contrary to the national interest of the country.
In February, Noem indicated in a Federal Register notice that her office would move to terminate TPS for Haitian nationals who were currently using that program. In the notice, she estimated that just over 521,000 Haitians are covered under TPS.
After taking office in January, President Donald Trump vowed to engage in the largest mass deportation campaign in U.S. history and has moved more federal resources to the U.S.–Mexico border.
Last month, the DHS said that it would pay illegal immigrants $1,000 and forgive any immigration-related fines if they self-deport using the CBP Home app. That app was launched in January to replace a Biden administration-era app, CBP One, that allowed people seeking asylum to schedule immigration court hearings.
Haitian nationals, who were in the country under TPS, became a 2024-campaign focal point last fall, after locals in Springfield, Ohio, claimed that Haitians were abducting and eating people’s pets, as well as birds from nearby parks.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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