Cruel policy: Haitians' protected status is ending
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The Sept. 2 deadline forces families who have built lives here for more than a decade to face deportation to a country plagued by gang violence and political collapse. As Massachusetts residents, we cannot stand by while our neighbors and caregivers face the dire consequences of this cruel policy. We have the power to challenge this decision through every available means and advocate for permanent solutions that acknowledge the contributions and humanity of our Haitian community. Advocacy can make a difference.
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James A. Lomastro
Conway
The writer is a member of Dignity Alliance of Massachusetts and has worked with people from Haiti both at the border, with Catholic Charities, and as a colleague in long-term care.
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Hard-working people deserve our empathy, sanctuary
If there is one nation whose migrants we should be protecting and providing help to, it is Haiti. The country is in the midst of an internal gang war.
Meanwhile, I have watched people with Temporary Protected Status as they built a stone wall in front of my house, reroofed my home, and provided other backbreaking labor. These are hard-working, industrious people who deserve our empathy and sanctuary.
Beau Schless
Sudbury
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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Judge blocks Trump's early termination of temporary protections for Haitian immigrants
A federal judge in New York has blocked the Trump administration's attempt to strip immigration protections from Haitians fleeing instability in their country. The ruling Friday from U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan preserves, for now, the Biden administration's 2024 extension of the protections, known as 'temporary protected status,' for up to 500,000 Haitians living in the United States. Cogan's 23-page decision is the latest legal development in the administration's efforts to roll back TPS designations and other immigration programs that allow immigrants from countries facing humanitarian crises to live and work here legally. In a separate case, the Supreme Court in May lifted a lower-court ruling and allowed the administration to revoke a Biden-era TPS designation for about 350,000 Venezuelans. Cogan's decision came just four days after Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced that the TPS designation for Haitians would expire effective on Sept. 2. Under the Biden administration's extension, the designation was scheduled to expire on Feb. 3, 2026. Cogan, an appointee of President George W. Bush, held that Noem's termination was unlawful because the government ignored provisions in the TPS statute that seek to provide early notice to recipients, including barring termination until a previous extension expires. The judge noted that Haitian TPS recipients have enrolled in schools, taken jobs and began medical treatment in reliance on the U.S. government's previous representations about the duration of the protections. 'When the Government confers a benefit over a fixed period of time, a beneficiary can reasonably expect to receive that benefit at least until the end of that fixed period,' Cogan wrote. 'Secretary Noem cannot reconsider Haiti's TPS designation in a way that takes effect before February 3, 2026,' the judge added. TPS designations are based on conditions in a particular country, including whether there is armed conflict, civil strife or widespread human rights violations. Noem said the 'environmental situation in Haiti has improved enough that it is safe for Haitian citizens to return home.' The State Department, meanwhile, advises Americans to 'not travel to Haiti due to kidnapping, crime, civil unrest, and limited health care.' The Trump administration has sought to revoke immigration parole programs and protected status for more than a million people from countries including Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Cameroon and Afghanistan.
Miami Herald
an hour ago
- Miami Herald
Federal judge rules in favor of Haitians with TPS, restores February 2026 deadline
A New York federal judge has ruled in favor of Haitians with temporary legal status in the United States, deciding on Tuesday that the Trump administration was wrong in deciding to cut short their end date by six months. U.S. District Judge Brian M. Cogan's ruling means that Haiti's Temporary Protected Status designation should return to its original February 2026 date, giving more than a half-million Haitian nationals with TPS more time to shield themselves against losing their work permits and deportation protections in the United States. Cogan found that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem exceeded her authority when she shaved off six months from the 18-month TPS extension that the prior Biden administration had granted to Haitian nationals. 'Secretary Noem's [decision] was in excess of her authority and was thus unlawful,' Cogan wrote, noting that he was granting partial summary judgment to the Haitian immigrants who challenged her because they 'are likely to prevail on the merits' in their lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security. 'Plaintiffs have also shown they will suffer irreparable injury without postponement' of the Trump administration's TPS end date for Haitian immigrants, Cogan added. In his ruling, Cogan also partly denied the administration's motion to dismiss the Haitian immigrants' lawsuit, filed in federal court in the Eastern District of New York. Earlier this year, Noem shortened by six months Haiti's 18-month extension for Haitian TPS holders in the United States. Her order meant that instead of enjoying the legal protections against deportation until February 2026, Haitians nationals in the U.S. were only protected until Aug. 3. That was later moved to Sept. 2 in the Federal Register when the administration failed to publicize its decision within 60 days of the original termination date. The administration is likely to appeal Cogan's decision. TPS is a humanitarian benefit given to countries in turmoil and allows their nationals in the U.S. to live and work legally here on a temporary basis. Noem's initial decision to overturn an order by the Biden administration to extend the benefit for Haitians before leaving office prompted nine Haitian nationals with TPS and two associations to file suit in the federal court in Brooklyn, asserting their due process rights and racial discrimination on the part of the Trump administration. The administration had asked for the suit to be dismissed and argued that it had the sole authority to end TPS for Haitian nationals in the U.S. Cogan, meanwhile, had been waiting on the administration to decide on Haiti's TPS designation before ruling on the lawsuit. 'We are appreciative of the judge's recognition that Secretary Kristi Noem and the Trump administration engaged in illegal conduct when they vacated part of the 18 months that had been given to Haitians under the Biden administration,' said Ira Kurzban, a Miami immigration attorney who is among the lawyers that brought the lawsuit. 'This means that Haitians' TPS is restored to the original 18 months until February 2026.'
Politico
2 hours ago
- Politico
Judge blocks Trump's early termination of temporary protections for Haitian immigrants
Cogan's decision came just four days after Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced that the TPS designation for Haitians would expire effective on Sept. 2. Under the Biden administration's extension, the designation was scheduled to expire on Feb. 3, 2026. Cogan, an appointee of President George W. Bush, held that Noem's termination was unlawful because the government ignored provisions in the TPS statute that seek to provide early notice to recipients, including barring termination until a previous extension expires. The judge noted that Haitian TPS recipients have enrolled in schools, taken jobs and began medical treatment in reliance on the U.S. government's previous representations about the duration of the protections. 'When the Government confers a benefit over a fixed period of time, a beneficiary can reasonably expect to receive that benefit at least until the end of that fixed period,' Cogan wrote. 'Secretary Noem cannot reconsider Haiti's TPS designation in a way that takes effect before February 3, 2026,' the judge added. TPS designations are based on conditions in a particular country, including whether there is armed conflict, civil strife or widespread human rights violations. Noem said the 'environmental situation in Haiti has improved enough that it is safe for Haitian citizens to return home.' The State Department, meanwhile, advises Americans to 'not travel to Haiti due to kidnapping, crime, civil unrest, and limited health care.' The Trump administration has sought to revoke immigration parole programs and protected status for more than a million people from countries including Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Cameroon and Afghanistan.
