Union worker Marta Cabrerra, at center, reacts during a press conference, candlelight vigil, and interfaith prayer at Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport on Jan. 28, 2026, calling on the Trump Administration to extend Temporary Protected Status for Haitians.
A federal judge in Washington blocked the Trump administration Monday night from ending temporary immigration protections for hundreds of thousands of Haitians, many of them in South Florida, ruling that the Department of Homeland Security violated the law.
The decision halts, for now, the Trump administration’s decision to terminate Haiti’s Temporary Protected Status designation, which was set to end at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday. The pending termination had triggered a wave of fear among the more than 300,000 Haitians who benefit from the status, because it put them at risk of being detained and deported back to their violence-torn homeland.
In her closely watched decision, U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes granted the plaintiffs’ motion to keep the administration from ending TPS for Haitians. Her decision means that, for the moment, Haitians who benefit from TPS will continue to have protections from deportations and will continue to have valid work authorizations.
DHS lawyers argued that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s decision to end TPS was not reviewable by the court. They argued that it was Congress’ intention when they created the law not to give individuals the right to challenge the secretary’s decision, and asked for the case to be dismissed.
Instead of arguing that Noem discriminated against Haitians based on their nationality, advocates for Haitians argued that the decision was made because they are Black and that Noem and the president’s animosity toward Haitians is based on race rather than nationality. It is the first time that the equal protection claim has gone before the courts exclusively on the issue of race.
The administration, which has canceled the TPS designation for a dozen other countries including Venezuela and Nicaragua, is expected to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court. In other cases, the administration has asked the court to lift injunctions imposed by lower court judges so that deportations can continue while litigation proceeds.
President Barack Obama put the Haiti TPS designation in place after the country’s devastating 2010 earthquake left more than 300,000 dead and 1.5 million homeless. While the quake nearly destroyed the Haitian capital, the country today finds itself in even worse shape: there is not one elected official nearly five years after President Jovenel Moise was assassinated, gangs are running amok and the pending end of the mandate of a ruling presidential council has heightened fears of more violence and instability.
Advocates and beneficiaries have said the end of TPS would send Haitians to their deaths, describing how armed gangs are responsible for thousands of killings, rapes and have left more than 6 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, including over 1.4 million who have been forced to flee their homes.
In South Florida, where more than 150,000 Haitians hold TPS, business leaders have raised concerns about the potential economic impact of losing workers.
Read more: Haitian TPS ends on Tuesday. No economy will be hit harder than Greater Miami’s
The suit was brought by nine plaintiffs, including Haitian TPS holders, the Haitian Evangelical Clergy Association and the service labor union EIU-32BJ. They argued that the administration’s decision to end TPS was not only done in violation of immigration law but was drive by racial animus, citing comments Trump made about the Haitian community prior to the termination.
The plaintiffs initially sued after Noem reduced a Biden administration 18-month TPS extension by six months. In July, a federal judge in New York ruled that Noem had exceeded her authority, and restored the original Feb. 3, 2026, termination date. DHS said it disagreed with that ruling, but later announced plans to end the designation this week.
In notices published in the Federal Register, DHS has acknowledged that criminal gangs are widespread in Haiti but said conditions are safe enough for Haitians to return – and that keeping the TPS designation in place is contrary to U.S. national interests.
The plaintiffs are represented by the Miami lawfirm Kurzban Kurzban, Tetzeli & Pratt and Just Futures Law. Along with the lawsuit, Just Futures Law and NYU Professor Ellie Happel also assisted in filing Freedom of Information lawsuits demanding memos related to the decision.
Read more: ‘I am breathing, but I am not living’: Fear rises among Haitians as TPS end nears
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.
