Caribbean legislators, U.S. Rep. Yvette D. Clarke and New York State Assembly Member Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, on Tuesday, Feb. 3, joined labor unions and immigration advocates in welcoming a ruling by the US District Court for the District of Columbia in pausing the Trump administration’s decision to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti.
Shortly after midnight on Monday, when the Trump administration’s decision was expected to go into effect, Judge Ana C. Reyes of the Federal District Court in Washington rejected the US Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) motion to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the termination of TPS for Haitians.
Haitians had filed a class-action lawsuit to block the administration from terminating their TPS status.
Judge Reyes ruled that TPS for Haitians must remain until the case concludes.
“I am deeply grateful that US District Judge Ana Reyes halted the expiration of Temporary Protected Status for Haiti that would have taken effect today, protecting more than 350,000 Haitian TPS holders who were at risk of deportation,” Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants and an ardent advocate for TPS for Haiti, told Caribbean Life.
“I am deeply grateful that US District Judge Ana Reyes halted the expiration of Temporary Protected Status for Haiti that would have taken effect today, protecting more than 350,000 Haitian TPS holders who were at risk of deportation,” Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants and an ardent advocate for TPS for Haiti, told Caribbean Life.
“As Haiti’s crisis deteriorates with further political instability, devastating humanitarian conditions, and rampant gang violence, we cannot force hundreds of thousands of people back into the very chaos they fled,” added the representative for the 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn, who also chairs the Congressional Black Caucus. “While this is not the end of the fight, today brings relief.
“For the time being, Haitian nationals across this country can remain in their homes, contribute to their communities, live without fear, and continue to build free, hopeful futures,” Clarke continued. “But they deserve more than temporary solace and better than Donald Trump. The work for the permanent safety of every Haitian goes on.”
Photo courtesy Office of New York State Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte-Hermelyn
Bichotte Hermelyn, the daughter of Haitian immigrants, who chairs the Brooklyn Democratic Party, noted that Judge Reyes’s ruling temporarily “nullifies TPS termination for Haitians in the United States for now and does not affect the protections, benefits, and work authorization of those under their current TPS designation.
“This is a huge win for Justice,” said Bichotte Hermelyn, who represents the 42nd Assembly District in Brooklyn. “I am grateful to Judge Ana Reyes for standing up for humanity and rightly denouncing the reckless attempts, injustice, and racist actions that tear apart thousands of families and deport them to a crisis zone.
“I urge everyone to work collaboratively to combat any further attempts to overturn this ruling, as this remains a developing legal situation and further court proceedings may occur,” she added.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, a strong TPS advocate, called the judge’s decision a critical victory for New York’s Haitian community and the rule of law.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, a strong TPS advocate, called the judge’s decision a critical victory for New York’s Haitian community and the rule of law.
“The administration’s unlawful attempt to suddenly cancel the legal status of hundreds of thousands of immigrants threatened to tear apart families throughout our state,” she said, noting that she had led a coalition of attorneys general in the US in urging the court to block “this attack on Haitian immigrants.
“And I will keep fighting to protect their rights,” James vowed.
“And I will keep fighting to protect their rights,” James vowed.
Manny Pastreich, president of 32BJ SEIU, one of the largest property service workers unions in the U.S., with a majority-immigrant membership, also
applauded Judge Reyes for her “thorough and extremely forceful rejection of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s attempt to end TPS for hundreds of thousands of Haitians, including many hundreds of our union’s members.
applauded Judge Reyes for her “thorough and extremely forceful rejection of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s attempt to end TPS for hundreds of thousands of Haitians, including many hundreds of our union’s members.
“Although we fully expect the Trump administration to appeal the ruling, we are relieved by this reprieve and renewed in our determination to continue fighting against all unjust TPS terminations,” he said.
“Our union was among the plaintiffs that successfully stopped DHS from ending Haitian TPS back in August, when we argued that a clear racial animus towards Black immigrants motivates this administration’s improper, if not illegal actions,” Pastreich added. “Even the current U.S. State Department has officially found that Haiti is too unsafe to visit, and Judge Reyes repeatedly notes that Secretary Noem completely failed to follow the law’s requirements to evaluate conditions in the home country before terminating TPS.
“As the decision also makes clear, ending Haitian would also cause calamity in the U.S.,” he continued. “In Florida, Massachusetts, New York and elsewhere, our Haitian TPS members load luggage at airports, keep downtown buildings safe, and perform many other essential jobs every day.
“We stand with all TPS recipients, whatever their nation of origin, and call on Congress to support Representative Ayanna Pressley’s discharge petition of a bill that would protect Haitian TPS, and then to engage with reform that creates a path to citizenship for TPS recipients and immigrants of all statuses, to reinvigorate our economy, heal our nation, and restore our highest values,” Pastreich said.
Murad Awawdeh, NYIC president and CEO, called Judge Reyes’s ruling a critical victory for 350,000 workers and community members, including 125,000 Haitian New Yorkers.
“This judge found that the Trump administration was likely acting with ‘hostility to nonwhite immigrants’ and failed to consider actual conditions in Haiti when stripping legal status from Haitian Americans,” he told Caribbean Life. “Haitian Americans cannot safely return to the country due to political chaos, gang violence, and climate precarity in their homeland.
“This judge found that the Trump administration was likely acting with ‘hostility to nonwhite immigrants’ and failed to consider actual conditions in Haiti when stripping legal status from Haitian Americans,” he told Caribbean Life. “Haitian Americans cannot safely return to the country due to political chaos, gang violence, and climate precarity in their homeland.
“We applaud the court for its thoughtful decision today,” Awawdeh added. “The Trump administration’s attempt to end TPS for Haiti is another cruel attack on immigrant New Yorkers, one which would have forced people into the deportation pipeline regardless of the cost to human lives.
“Our Haitian neighbors are vital to the social and economic fabric of America and New York – they are essential workers, caregivers, healthcare workers, business owners, and so much more,” he continued. “While protecting TPS for Haiti is an important step to safeguarding the well-being of immigrant families who have long called this country home, our neighbors need permanent protections to be shielded from the Trump administration’s insatiable cruelty.”
Therefore, Awawdeh called on the New York Congressional Delegation and the U.S. Congress to “act now and provide permanent protections for Haitians and all TPS holders.”
In her 83-page ruling, Judge Reyes said Noem lacked authority to terminate TPS for Haitians and that her reasoning ignored the legal presence of current Haitian TPS holders.
In her 83-page ruling, Judge Reyes said Noem lacked authority to terminate TPS for Haitians and that her reasoning ignored the legal presence of current Haitian TPS holders.
Judge Reyes also wrote that Noem ignored the economic impact of Haitians in the US.
Additionally, she ruled that the Trump administration’s decision was seemingly motivated by racial animus.
Additionally, she ruled that the Trump administration’s decision was seemingly motivated by racial animus.
“The mismatch between what the secretary said in the termination and what the evidence shows confirms that the termination of Haiti’s TPS designation was not the product of reasoned decision-making, but of a preordained outcome justified by pretextual reasons,” Judge Reyes wrote.
“Plaintiffs charge that Secretary Noem preordained her termination decision and did so because of hostility to nonwhite immigrants,” she added. “This seems substantially likely.”
“Plaintiffs charge that Secretary Noem preordained her termination decision and did so because of hostility to nonwhite immigrants,” she added. “This seems substantially likely.”
The Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner law firm that represented the plaintiffs lauded the judge’s ruling.
“This ruling recognizes the grave risks Haitian TPS holders would face if forced to return, and it ensures that they can remain here in the United States – as legislated by Congress – to continue their lives, contributing to their communities, and supporting their families,” said the firm in a statement.
But the Trump administration said it will appeal the ruling.
“This ruling recognizes the grave risks Haitian TPS holders would face if forced to return, and it ensures that they can remain here in the United States – as legislated by Congress – to continue their lives, contributing to their communities, and supporting their families,” said the firm in a statement.
But the Trump administration said it will appeal the ruling.
“Temporary means temporary,” said DHS Spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin in a statement. “And the final word will not be from an activist judge legislating from the bench.”
On Friday, the San Diego, CA-based Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA), alongside over 300 labor unions, civil and human rights organizations, faith leaders, business voices, and community groups across the United States, had sent a letter to President Donald J. Trump, Noem and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, urging the reversal of the administration’s decision to terminate TPS for over 350,000 Haitian nationals living in the U.S.
HBA Executive Director Guerline Jozef told Caribbean Life that Trump seemed to be pushing ahead with ending TPS for Haitians, “despite significant gang violence, a humanitarian crisis, and instability” in the French-speaking Caribbean country.
HBA Executive Director Guerline Jozef told Caribbean Life that Trump seemed to be pushing ahead with ending TPS for Haitians, “despite significant gang violence, a humanitarian crisis, and instability” in the French-speaking Caribbean country.
“The Trump administration’s decision comes as Haiti is experiencing record-level gang violence, mass displacement of more than one million people, and state collapse, conditions so severe that the U.S. government itself has designated Haiti a Level 4 ‘Do Not Travel’ country,” Jozef said.
“To simultaneously acknowledge that Haiti is too dangerous for Americans while forcing hundreds of thousands of Haitians to return is not policy — it is hypocrisy weaponized as governance,” she added.
In their letter to Trump, HBA and the groups write that “extending and redesignating TPS for Haitians is in the clear national interest of the United States, from a labor, business, and taxpayer perspective.
In their letter to Trump, HBA and the groups write that “extending and redesignating TPS for Haitians is in the clear national interest of the United States, from a labor, business, and taxpayer perspective.
“This is not an appeal to charity; it is an appeal to pragmatic self-interest, grounded in facts,” says the letter, noting that, as of March 31, 2025, about 1.3 million people had TPS in the United States.
The letter says recent analyses estimate that about 570,000 TPS holders are active in the US labor force, including roughly 95,000 in leisure and hospitality, 90,000 in construction, 85,000 in business services, 80,000 in wholesale/retail, and 70,000 in manufacturing.
The letter says recent analyses estimate that about 570,000 TPS holders are active in the US labor force, including roughly 95,000 in leisure and hospitality, 90,000 in construction, 85,000 in business services, 80,000 in wholesale/retail, and 70,000 in manufacturing.
Moreover, the letter says hospitals have ranked in the top five employment industries for Haitian TPS holders in particular.
“These workers are overwhelmingly employed,” says the letter, pointing to one study that found that 94.6 % of TPS holders were working in 2021, contributing billions in federal, state, and local taxes and roughly US$8 billion in spending power in that year alone.
“These workers are overwhelmingly employed,” says the letter, pointing to one study that found that 94.6 % of TPS holders were working in 2021, contributing billions in federal, state, and local taxes and roughly US$8 billion in spending power in that year alone.
It says that, according to official records, roughly 330,000–353,000 Haitians currently benefit from TPS.
Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, said that “under the Trump administration, we have seen the consequences of an immigration agenda built on fear instead of facts.”
AFL-CIO stands for the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. It is the largest federation of labor unions in the U.S., representing over 12 million active and retired workers across 60-plus national and international unions.
AFL-CIO stands for the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. It is the largest federation of labor unions in the U.S., representing over 12 million active and retired workers across 60-plus national and international unions.
“This administration’s policies have pushed workers out of their jobs, destabilized families, and made communities less safe,” Shuler said. “Now, the administration is ending Temporary Protected Status for Haitians and escalating that harm — essentially firing more than 300,000 experienced, tax-paying workers who are essential to our economy, including our care, construction, hospitality, and manufacturing sectors.
“The AFL-CIO calls on the administration to extend and redesignate Haiti TPS, a common-sense step to protect workers, strengthen our economy, and avoid further destabilizing families and communities across the country,” she added.
“The AFL-CIO calls on the administration to extend and redesignate Haiti TPS, a common-sense step to protect workers, strengthen our economy, and avoid further destabilizing families and communities across the country,” she added.
