The Trump administration is canceling the protected status of Haitians residing in the United States due to danger and turmoil in their home country. The move, seemingly contradicting other recent declarations about the continuing lack of safety in Haiti, means that over 500,000 Haitians could face deportation beginning in September.
Withdrawing Temporary Protected Status for Haiti
The Department of Homeland Security announced on Friday that it was ending Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for approximately 500,000 Haitians residing in the United States. TPS is a special status granted by the U.S. government to citizens of countries facing acute dangers, such as natural disasters or political turmoil, that make it unsafe to reside in those countries until the crisis has been alleviated. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has determined that circumstances in Haiti, which has been rocked by political violence and natural disasters in recent years, have improved such that Noem “determined that conditions in Haiti no longer meet the TPS statutory requirements.” With this decision, Haiti’s TPS designation will end on Sept. 2, meaning that Haitians in the country under TPS could potentially be deported if they remain in the United States after that date.
Contradicting past and current assessments of risks in Haiti
This latest move follows a February decision by the Trump administration to remove a temporary legal status that President Joe Biden had granted to the Haitians then in the U.S. because of the dangerous conditions in their home country. The Trump administration’s decision seems to contradict other policies and guidance toward Haiti. The country was one of 12 countries targeted by a new Trump administration travel ban earlier this month, in which the government claimed that Haiti and other nations on the list posed a national security threat. The Trump administration has also maintained the 2024 designation of a “Level 4” travel advisory for Haiti, which recommends that Americans “do not travel to Haiti due to kidnapping, crime, civil unrest, and limited health care.”
Political crisis in Haiti and political manipulation in the U.S.
Haiti was plunged into a political crisis in 2021 with the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. Since then, the political situation in the country has largely deteriorated, with gang violence becoming endemic in areas such as Port-au-Prince. The presence of Haitians in the United States became an issue during the 2024 presidential campaign, as Republicans, including President Donald Trump and JD Vance, began spreading unfounded racist rumors against the Haitian population in Springfield, Ohio, as part of their larger rhetoric against immigration.
With the Trump administration continuing to crack down against both unauthorized and legal immigration, it appears that Haitians are now the latest target of this nativist agenda. The latest move by the government could put hundreds of thousands of people at risk, as Haitians will no longer be able to reside in the United States as a safe haven.
