Latest news with #DepartmentofHomelandSecurity
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Trump administration to end deportation relief for 500,000 Haitians: What it means and what comes next
The Trump administration has announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for approximately 500,000 Haitians living in the United States, marking a significant escalation in its efforts to restrict immigration and increase deportations. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed that the TPS program for Haitians will officially expire on August 3, 2025, with deportations set to begin as early as September 2, 2025. What Is Temporary Protected Status (TPS)? TPS is a humanitarian program established by Congress in 1990. It allows nationals from countries suffering from armed conflict, natural disasters, or other extraordinary conditions to live and work legally in the U.S. on a temporary basis. The status is periodically reviewed and can be extended, expanded, or terminated by the Secretary of Homeland Security. Haiti was first designated for TPS in 2010 after a devastating earthquake killed over 200,000 people and left 1.5 million homeless—more than 10% of the country's population. The designation has been repeatedly renewed due to ongoing instability, natural disasters, and, more recently, surging gang violence and political turmoil. The administration's rationale Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stated that the decision to end TPS for Haitians was based on an assessment that "the environmental situation in Haiti has improved enough that it is safe for Haitian citizens to return home". A DHS spokesperson added, 'This decision restores integrity in our immigration system and ensures that Temporary Protective Status is actually temporary'. However, the U.S. State Department has not changed its travel advisory for Haiti, continuing to warn Americans against travel to the country due to 'kidnapping, crime, civil unrest, and limited health care'. The International Organization for Migration reports that 1.3 million Haitians have been displaced by gang violence, with nearly 11% of the country's population forced from their homes. The move follows a series of similar actions by the Trump administration, which has also sought to end TPS for Venezuelans, Afghans, and Cameroonians. In May, the Supreme Court allowed the administration to proceed with the termination of TPS for Venezuelans and to rescind a separate status known as parole for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans. Live Events During his campaign and current term, President Trump has made mass deportations and the rollback of humanitarian protections central to his immigration policy . He has argued that TPS and similar programs have been misused and extended beyond their original intent. Impact on Haitian TPS holders Population Affected: About 500,000 Haitians, many of whom have lived in the U.S. for over a decade, are now at risk of deportation. Legal and Economic Uncertainty: TPS holders will lose their legal right to work and reside in the U.S. as of September 2, unless they qualify for asylum or another form of legal status. It is unclear how many will be able to secure alternative protections. Community Concerns: Advocacy groups and some lawmakers have condemned the decision, citing ongoing violence and instability in Haiti. They argue that deporting such a large population could worsen the humanitarian crisis and place individuals at grave risk. Economic Times WhatsApp channel )
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
4 hours ago
- Politics
- First Post
Trump revokes temporary protection for 520,000 Haitians
The Department of Homeland Security said it was ending Temporary Protected Status for Haitians on September 2 and encouraged those who were living in the United States under the program to return home read more The Trump administration said Friday it is terminating temporary legal protections that allowed more than 520,000 Haitians to live in the United States. The United States grants Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to foreign citizens who cannot safely return home because of war, natural disasters or other 'extraordinary' conditions. The Department of Homeland Security said it was ending TPS for Haitians on September 2 and encouraged those who were living in the United States under the program to return home. Former president Joe Biden extended TPS for Haitians before leaving office, allowing them to reside in the United States until February 2026. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD But the Trump administration announced in February that it was canceling the extension. It said on Friday it was terminating TPS for Haitians altogether on September 2. 'The environmental situation in Haiti has improved enough that it is safe for Haitian citizens to return home,' DHS said. Permitting Haitian nationals to remain temporarily in the United States is contrary to US national interest, it added. Struck by a devastating earthquake in 2010, Haiti has suffered from political instability for decades and more recently from increasing violence by armed groups. The US State Department currently advises Americans not to travel to Haiti 'due to kidnapping, crime, civil unrest and limited heath care.' President Donald Trump has pledged to carry out the largest deportation campaign in US history and curb immigration, mainly from Latin American nations. Trump ordered a review of the TPS program on his return to the White House and his administration has revoked TPS protections for Afghans and Venezuelans in addition to Haitians. During his campaign Trump made baseless claims that an Ohio city had seen a recent influx of Haitian migrants who were stealing and eating residents' cats and dogs. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD A UN human rights expert called on the United States and other nations in March not to expel Haitians back to their violence-plagued country. William O'Neill, a UN-designated expert on human rights in Haiti, said deporting people back there would be unsafe. 'Violent criminal groups continue to extend and consolidate their hold beyond the capital,' O'Neill said. 'They kill, rape, terrorize, set fire to homes, orphanages, schools, hospitals, places of worship, recruit children and infiltrate all spheres of society.'
India Today
4 hours ago
- Politics
- India Today
Trump orders end to special immigration protections for half-million Haitians
The Department of Homeland Security said Friday that it is terminating legal protections for hundreds of thousands of Haitians, setting them up for potential said that conditions in Haiti have improved and Haitians no longer meet the conditions for the temporary legal termination of temporary protected status, or TPS, applies to about 500,000 Haitians who are already in the United States, some of whom have lived here for more than a decade. It comes three months after the Trump administration revoked legal protections for thousands of Haitians who arrived legally in the country under a humanitarian parole program, and it is part of a series of measures implemented to curb Recently, the US Supreme Court overturned a federal judge's order preventing the administration from revoking the parole allows people already in the United States to stay and work legally if their homelands are deemed unsafe. Immigrants from 17 countries, including Haiti, Afghanistan, Sudan and Lebanon, were receiving those protections before President Donald Trump took office for his second term in Trump is ending protections and programs for immigrants as part of his mass deportations promises. During his political campaign he said his administration would scale back the use of TPS, which covered more than 1 million immigrants. His campaign highlighted unfounded claims that Haitians who live and work legally in Springfield, Ohio, as TPS holders were eating their neighbors' of thousands of Venezuelans and some Afghans have been told already that they're losing their TPS of the Haitians who benefit from TPS have requested asylum or other lawful immigration status that could protect them from deportation, although it is not clear how many could be left without any relief.'This decision restores integrity in our immigration system and ensures that Temporary Protective Status is actually temporary,' a DHS spokesperson said. 'The environmental situation in Haiti has improved enough that it is safe for Haitian citizens to return home.'The Department of State, nonetheless, has not changed its travel advisory and still recommends Americans 'do not travel to Haiti due to kidnapping, crime, civil unrest, and limited health care.'Temporary protected status for Haitians expires on Aug. 3, and the termination will be effective on Sept. 2, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem advised TPS holders to return to Haiti using a mobile application called CBP violence has displaced 1.3 million people across Haiti as the local government and international community struggle to contain an spiralling crisis, according to a recent report from the International Organisation for Migration. The report warned of a 24 per cent increase in displaced people since December, with gunmen having chased 11per cent of Haiti's nearly 12 million inhabitants from their people back to these conditions is a death sentence for many, stripping them of their fundamental right to safety and dignity,' said Tessa Pettit, a Haitian-American who is executive director of the Florida Immigrant Desir, 36, has been in the US since 2022 on asylum, but he says he is concerned by the Trump administration's decision to terminate TPS.'You see your friends who used to go to work every day, and suddenly—without being sick or fired—they just can't go anymore. It hits you. Even if it hasn't happened to you yet, you start to worry, 'What if it's me next?''Desir says his asylum court date was set for this year, but the judge rescheduled it for lives in Springfield, Ohio, with his wife and two children, and he works in a car parts manufacturing plant.- Ends
Miami Herald
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Miami Herald
‘Kiss of death': South Florida reacts to end of Haiti's Temporary Protected Status
Nadine Mallebranche was only five years old when her family fled the political upheaval of Francois 'Baby Doc' Duvalier's Haiti in the late 1980s. In the United States, the Mallebranche family found safety. After her parents died when she was 13, Mallebranche bounced from foster home to foster home. Social workers tried to help her with her immigration case, but it fell through the cracks, she said. She remained unsure of her legal status for decades. Everything changed for Mallebranche when Haitians were granted deportation protections and work permits under Temporary Protected Status. For the last 15 years, she has not had to fear being sent back to a country she doesn't remember. She could legally work as a store supervisor. 'It was a lifeline,' she told the Miami Herald. But on Friday, Mallebranche, now 45, learned that the Trump administration is ending TPS for over half-a-million Haitians living in the United States. Come this fall, she could be forced to return to a gang-ridden Caribbean country struggling with record hunger and political instability. 'I'm facing potential deportation to a country that is overrun by criminal gangs,' said Mallebranche. 'The only home that I know is the United States.' In the first six months of 2025, extreme violence in Haiti killed about 2,700 people . Sexual violence and kidnappings are rampant. Almost 1.3 million people are internally displaced and 5.7 million people face acute hunger. READ MORE: Trump ends TPS for Haitians. More than a half-million people now face deportation But a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said on Friday that 'the environmental situation in Haiti has improved enough that it is safe for Haitian citizens to return home' — even as the State Department warns Americans to not travel there at all because of kidnapping, civil unrest, limited healthcare, and extreme gang violence. This week, the agency urged Americans to 'depart as soon as possible.' Litigation challenging the termination of Haiti's TPS is very likely. But the Trump administration's decision to end TPS has sent shock waves through South Florida, the heart of the Haitian diaspora in the United States. Over 300,000 Haitians call the Miami metro area home, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Nearly 511,000 live in Florida. In South Florida, advocates and community leaders condemned Homeland Security's decision on Friday, calling it a dangerous and wicked policy that threatens the lives of Haitians if they are forced to return there. 'Deporting Haitians back to Haiti is a kiss of death,' said U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, the federal lawmaker who represents Miami. 'This news is insanity on steroids, and it is heartbreaking to my community. We cannot send anymore people back to Haiti. This ruling is hateful, inhumane and heartless.' The Florida Immigrant Coalition said in a statement that 'Haiti is not in any shape to sustain human dignity and life, and any suggestion to the contrary is nothing but lies.' 'Forcing Haitians to return to Haiti right now is not just morally indefensible, it is a humanitarian catastrophe,' said Tessa Petit, the Haitian-born director of the coalition. One Haitian TPS holder who asked not to be named condemned the decision and emphasized the contribution of Haitian immigrants to the United States. 'These are the hands that heal you, feed you, teach your children, and serve your communities. Revoking Haitian TPS is not policy, it's humane and economic sabotage. You don't get to call people essential when it benefits you, then disposable when it doesn't,' she said. Others, like the Board of the Haitian American Chamber of Commerce in Florida, shared messages of support to those affected, which includes many Haitian families where status for different members ranges from undocumented to U.S. citizenship. 'Our community's strength has always been rooted in resilience, unity, and the pursuit of opportunity. We will continue to stand together in that spirit,' said the coalition in a statement. Homeland Security said in Friday's announcement of the termination that it 'encouraged' Haitians to self-deport. Some Haitians have previously told the Herald that they would rather risk immigration detention in the United States than return to Haiti. As part of a widespread crackdown on immigration, the Trump administration has ended humanitarian protections for immigrants from countries in turmoil, like Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Haiti. The previous administration granted an 18-month extension of the protections in January, following a country review, because conditions in Haiti are so dangerous. Current Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem rolled back the year-and-a half-long extension, a decision that is being litigated in federal courts. On Friday, the agency ended Haiti's TPS altogether. The TPS designation expires on Aug. 3, and the termination kicks into effect a month later, on Sept. 2. 'This decision restores integrity in our immigration system and ensures that Temporary Protective Status is actually temporary,' the DHS spokesperson said. Congress created TPS in 1990 as a way to grant deportation protections and work permits to people who are already in the United States and cannot return home to countries navigating war, conflict or natural disasters. The secretary of Homeland Security can designate a country for TPS, and periodically conduct a review to determine whether conditions warrant extensions of current designations or expansions that can include more people under the protections. Large swaths of Haiti, including about 90% of its capital Port-au-Prince, are under the control of criminal gangs that terrorize the population. The country is as dangerous for children as the Gaza Strip, according to a recent UN report. A lack of basic necessities, a government in collapse and a crumbling healthcare system make life extremely difficult for people in the country, which has not held elections since 2016. Mallebranche cannot imagine returning to a country in turmoil, a homeland where she hasn't stepped foot in decades. She hasn't told loved ones yet she might be deported. 'This is infuriating, not only for me, but every other person that this is now happening to. What are we supposed to do?'
Los Angeles Times
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
L.A. Army veteran with Purple Heart self-deports to South Korea under threat of deportation
An Army veteran who grew up in Van Nuys and was awarded a Purple Heart self-deported to South Korea this week as he was threatened with being detained and deported by federal immigration forces. On Monday, veteran Sae Joon Park, who legally immigrated from South Korea when he was seven years old, grew up in Koreatown and the San Fernando Valley and held a green card, flew back to his homeland under threat of deportation at the age of 55. He said he is being forced to leave because of drug convictions nearly two decades ago that he said were a response to the PTSD he suffered after being shot during military action in Panama. 'It's unbelievable. I'm still in disbelief that this has actually happened,' Park said in a phone interview from Incheon early Wednesday morning. 'I know I made my mistakes … but it's not like I was a violent criminal. It's not like I'm going around robbing people at gunpoint or hurting anyone. It was self-induced because of the problems I had.' Asked to comment on Park, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Park has an 'extensive criminal history' and has been given a final removal order, with the option to self-deport. Park said he suffered from PTSD and addiction in the aftermath of being wounded when he was part of the U.S. forces that invaded Panama in 1989 to depose the nation's de facto leader, Gen. Manuel Noriega. But now Park, a legal immigrant, is targeted by federal authorities in President Trump's recent immigration raids that have prompted widespread protests in Los Angeles and across the nation. Federal authorities have arrested more than 1,600 immigrants for deportation in Southern California between June 6 and 22, according to DHS. A noncitizen is eligible for naturalization if they served honorably in the U.S. military for at least a year. Park served less than a year before he was wounded and honorably discharged. Since 2002, over 158,000 immigrant service members have become U.S. citizens. As of 2021, the Department of Veteran Affairs and DHS are responsible for tracking deported veterans to make sure they still have access to VA benefits. Park's parents divorced when he was a toddler, and his mother immigrated from South Korea to the United States. He followed her a year later. They first lived in Koreatown, moved to Panorama City and then Van Nuys. He graduated from Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks in 1988. Struggling at first to learn English and acclimate with his classmates, he eventually became part of the Southern California skateboarding and surfing scene of the 1980s, which is when television editor Josh Belson met him. They have been close friends ever since. 'He's always got a smile, a very kind of vivacious energy about him,' said Belson, who attended a nearby high school when they met. 'He was the kind of person you wanted to be around.' After graduating, Park said he wasn't ready to attend college, so he joined the military. 'The Army provided not only turning me into a man, but also providing me with the GI Bill, so you can go to college later, and they'll pay for it. And the fact that I did believe in the country, the United States,' he said. 'So I felt like I was doing something honorable. I was very proud when I joined the military.' Park's platoon was deployed to Panama in late 1989, where he said they experienced a firefight the first night there. The following day, he said he was carrying an M-16 when they raided the house of one of the 'witches' Noriega allegedly followed. He said they saw a voodoo worship room with body parts and a cross painted in blood on the floor. While there, he heard gunfire from the backyard and returned fire. He was shot twice, in his spine and lower left back. The bullet to his spine was partially deflected by his dog tag, which Park believes is the reason he wasn't paralyzed. A military ambulance was delayed because of the firefight, but a Vietnam veteran who lived nearby rescued him, Park said. 'I just remember I'm just lying in my own pool of blood and just leaking out badly. So he actually went home, got his pickup truck, put me in the back of his pickup truck with two soldiers, and drove me to the hospital,' Park said. He was then evacuated to an Army hospital in San Antonio. A four-star general awarded him a Purple Heart at his bedside. Then-President George W. Bush visited wounded soldiers there. Park spent about two weeks there, and then went home for a month or so, until he could walk. His experience resulted in mental issues he didn't recognize, he said. 'My biggest issue at the time, more than my injuries, was — I didn't know what it was at the time, nobody did, because there was no such thing as PTSD at the time,' he said. Eventually, 'I realized I was suffering from PTSD badly, nightmares every night, severe. I couldn't hear loud noises, and at that time in L.A., you would hear gunshots every night you left the house, so I was paranoid at all times. And being a man and being a tough guy, I couldn't share this with anyone.' Park started self-medicating with marijuana, which he said helped him sleep. But he started doing harder drugs, eventually crack cocaine. He moved to Hawaii after his mother and stepfather's L.A. store burned during the 1992 riots, and married. After Park and his wife separated, he moved to New York City, where his addiction worsened. 'It got really bad. It just got out of control — every day, every night, all day — just smoking, everything,' Park said. One night, in the late 2000s, he was meeting his drug dealer at a Taco Bell in Queens when police surrounded his car, and the dealer fled while leaving a large quantity of crack in his glove compartment, Park said. A judge sent Park to rehab twice, but he said he was not ready to get sober. 'I just couldn't. I was an addict. It was so hard for me to stay clean. I'd be good for 30 days and relapse,' he said. 'I'd be good for 20 days and relapse. It was such a struggle. Finally, the judge told me, 'Mr. Park, the next time you come into my courtroom with the dirty urine, you're gonna go to prison.' So I got scared.' So Park didn't return to court, drove to Los Angeles and then returned to Hawaii, skipping bail, which is an aggravated felony. 'I did not know at the time jumping bail was an aggravated felony charge, and combined with my drug use, that's deportable for someone like me with my green card,' he said. U.S. Marshals were sent looking for Park, and he said once he heard about this, he turned himself in in August 2009, because he didn't want to be arrested in front of his two children. He served two years in prison and said immigration officials detained him for six months after he was released as he fought deportation orders. He was eventually released under 'deferred action,' an act of prosecutorial discretion by DHS to put off deportation. Every year since, Park was required to check in with federal officials and show that he was employed and sober. Meanwhile, he had sole custody of his two children, who are now 28 and 25. He was also caring for his 85-year-old mother, who is in the early stages of dementia. During his most recent check-in, Park was about to be handcuffed and detained, but immigration agents placed an ankle monitor on him and gave him three weeks to get his affairs in order and self-deport. He is not allowed to return to the United States for 10 years. He worries he will miss his mother's passing and his daughter's wedding. 'That's the biggest part. But … it could be a lot worse too. I look at it that way also,' Park said. 'So I'm grateful I made it out of the United States, I guess, without getting detained.' 'I always just assumed a green card, legal residency, is just like having citizenship,' he added. 'I just never felt like I had to go get citizenship. And that's just being honest. As a kid growing up in the United States, I've always just thought, hey, I'm a green card holder, a legal resident, I'm just like a citizen.' His condition has spiraled since then. 'Alright. I'm losing it. Can't stop crying. I think PTSD kicking in strong,' Park texted Belson on Thursday. 'Just want to get back to my family and take care of my mother ... I'm a mess.' Times staff writer Nathan Solis contributed to this report.
