Judge blocks Kristi Noem from ending temporary protected status for Haitians
Earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security rescinded Joe Biden's extension of temporary protected status (TPS) for Haitians through 3 February. It called for the program to end on 3 August, and last week pushed back that date to 2 September.
The US district judge Brian Cogan in Brooklyn, however, said the homeland security secretary Kristi Noem did not follow instructions and a timeline mandated by Congress to reconsider the TPS designation for Haitians.
'Secretary Noem does not have statutory or inherent authority to partially vacate a country's TPS designation', making her actions 'unlawful', Cogan wrote. 'Plaintiffs are likely to (and, indeed, do) succeed on the merits.'
Cogan also said Haitians' interests in being able to live and work in the United States 'far outweigh' potential harm to the US government, which remains free to enforce immigration laws and terminate TPS status as prescribed by Congress.
Donald Trump has made a crackdown on legal and illegal immigration a central plank of his second White House term.
Cogan was appointed to the bench by George W Bush, also a Republican.
In a statement, Tricia McLaughlin, homeland security spokesperson, said Haiti's TPS designation had been granted following the 2010 earthquake in that country, and was never intended as a 'de facto' asylum program.
'This ruling delays justice and seeks to kneecap the President's constitutionally vested powers,' she said. 'We expect a higher court to vindicate us.'
Federal courts blocked Trump from ending most TPS enrollment during his first term.
Nine Haitian TPS holders, an association of churches and a chapter of the Service Employees International Union filed the lawsuit on 14 March, saying Noem did not do a required review of current conditions in Haiti before ending TPS early.
More than 1 million people, more than half of them children, are displaced within Haiti, where gang violence is prevalent despite a United Nations-backed security mission that began last year.
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'While the fight is far from over, this is an important step,' Manny Pastreich, president of SEIU Local 32BJ, whose members include Haitian TPS holders, said in a statement.
Noem shares Trump's hardline stance on immigration issues, and moved to end TPS for about 350,000 Venezuelans as well as thousands of people from Afghanistan and Cameroon.
On 19 May, the US supreme court let TPS end for the Venezuelans, signaling that other terminations could be allowed.
Noem has authority to grant TPS for six to eight months to people from countries experiencing natural disasters, armed conflict or other extraordinary events.
The Haitian plaintiffs also claimed the suspension of their TPS status was motivated in part by racial animus, violating their constitutional right to equal protection.
Trump falsely said in a September 2024 debate with Democratic candidate Kamala Harris that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating pets, sparking fear of retaliation against Haitians.
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