A US federal appeals court has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for more than 300,000 Haitians, extending protections for at least several more days as legal challenges continue.
The decision by a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit prevents the administration from revoking TPS protections for Haitian nationals before at least July 27.
Hundreds of thousands of Haitians were scheduled to lose their temporary protection from deportation and work authorisation on Friday following a recent Supreme Court ruling that cleared the way for the Trump administration to terminate TPS designations for nationals of Haiti and Syria.
However, the appeals court on Wednesday rejected the administration’s request to suspend a lower court order that had delayed the termination of TPS while litigation over the policy continues.
The panel said the government had not demonstrated that the lower court’s order should be halted, particularly because the case is expected to return to the appeals court on July 27.
The ruling means Haitian TPS holders will retain their protections for at least the immediate future, although the broader legal battle over the administration’s decision remains unresolved.
Trump Administration Challenges Court Order
The Trump administration had asked the appeals court earlier this month to overturn the lower court’s decision, arguing that the order was unlawful and that there was no justification for extending the temporary protections following the Supreme Court’s ruling.
The Justice Department argued that continuing the lower court order was preventing the executive branch from implementing what it described as a lawful immigration policy.
The Department of Homeland Security had not immediately commented on the latest appeals court decision.
The legal dispute follows a 6-3 Supreme Court ruling that found federal judges lacked authority to intervene in certain nonconstitutional claims brought against the administration’s decision to terminate TPS designations.
The ruling effectively opened the door for the administration to proceed with its efforts to end protections for Haitian and Syrian nationals.
What Is TPS?
Created by Congress in 1990, Temporary Protected Status provides eligible nationals of designated countries who are already living in the United States with temporary legal status and protection from deportation when conditions in their home countries make it unsafe for them to return.
The Trump administration has argued that conditions in Haiti no longer warrant continuing the country’s TPS designation.
However, the US State Department continues to warn Americans against travelling to Haiti because of serious security concerns, including crime, kidnapping, terrorism, civil unrest and limited access to healthcare.
The administration is also seeking to terminate TPS protections for more than 1 million people from nearly a dozen other countries.
The future of those protections remains uncertain following the Supreme Court’s decision, leaving hundreds of thousands of migrants facing potential loss of legal status and protection from deportation.
For Haitian TPS holders, the appeals court’s latest decision provides a reprieve, but their long-term status in the United States will depend on the outcome of the continuing legal proceedings.