Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem concluded that Haiti no longer meets the ‘statutory requirements for TPS.’
TNS
The Department of Homeland Security on Thursday announced the end of temporary immigration protections for Haitians.
“After consulting with interagency partners, Secretary (Kristi) Noem concluded that Haiti no longer meets the statutory requirements for TPS,” the agency said in a posting.
“This decision was based on a review conducted by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, input from relevant U.S. government agencies, and an analysis indicating that allowing Haitian nationals to remain temporarily in the United States is inconsistent with U.S. national interests.”
The decision, effective Feb. 3, 2026, affects up to more than a half million Haitians. They now face returning to a country plagued by criminal gangs that control all major roads into the capital Port-au-Prince and that for months have been spreading their violence into rural regions.
With an estimated 2.7 million Haitians living in the capital in gang control neighborhoods, more than 1.4 million are internally displaced according to the United Nations.
“If you are an alien who is currently a beneficiary of TPS for Haiti, you should prepare to depart if you have no other lawful basis for remaining in the United States,” DHS said.
Attorney Ira Kurzban, who is among a team of lawyers suing the administration over its decision to end the status for Haitians, told the Miami Herald the administration’s rationale is based on “outright lies.” “Haiti is in political and economic turmoil due in large measure to U.S. foreign policy, including by the current administration. The reasons offered to terminate TPS are frivolous and include mischaracterizations and outright lies,” he said.
“They are a product of Trump, [Vice President] Vance and Sec. Noem’s actions that demonstrate hatred of Haitians and racism toward Black refugees.”
This story will be updated.
This story was originally published November 26, 2025 at 12:30 PM.
Jacqueline Charles
Miami Herald
Jacqueline Charles has reported on Haiti and the English-speaking Caribbean for the Miami Herald for over a decade. A Pulitzer Prize finalist for her coverage of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, she was awarded a 2018 Maria Moors Cabot Prize — the most prestigious award for coverage of the Americas.
