Judge Blocks Deportation of 350K+ Haitians With TPS Status

Federal Judge Blocks Trump Administration From Ending Protections for Haitian Immigrants

February 2, 2026 – A federal judge on Monday blocked the Trump administration from revoking Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians, granting a last-minute reprieve to over 350,000 immigrants who faced potential deportation. The ruling prevents the termination of their legal protections, which was scheduled to take effect today, February 3, 2026.

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, D.C., halted the Department of Homeland Security’s effort to end Haiti’s TPS designation. The decision comes as Haiti continues to grapple with a severe humanitarian crisis, including widespread gang violence that has displaced more than 1.4 million people.

Judge Reyes, appointed by former President Joe Biden, issued the ruling in a class-action lawsuit brought by Haitian TPS holders seeking to prevent their deportation. The judge found that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem likely violated procedural requirements and potentially the Fifth Amendment’s equal protection clause in her decision to terminate the program.

“Plaintiffs charge that Secretary Noem preordained her termination decision and did so because of hostility to nonwhite immigrants. This seems substantially likely,” Reyes wrote in her opinion, citing concerns about potential bias.

The law firm representing the plaintiffs, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, lauded the ruling, emphasizing the dangers Haitian TPS holders would face if returned to their home country. “This ruling recognizes the grave risks Haitian TPS holders would face if forced to return and it ensures that they can remain here in the United States – as legislated by Congress – to continue their lives, contributing to their communities, and supporting their families,” the firm said in a statement.

TPS is granted to individuals from countries facing extraordinary and temporary conditions, such as natural disasters or armed conflict. It provides work authorization and temporary protection from deportation. Haiti was first designated for TPS in 2010 following a devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake.

The Trump administration has aggressively sought to end TPS protections for multiple countries as part of a broader effort to reduce immigration, arguing that the program was intended to be temporary and not a pathway to permanent residency. According to the Department of Homeland Security, protections have been terminated for approximately 600,000 Venezuelans, 60,000 people from Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal, over 160,000 Ukrainians, and thousands from Afghanistan and Cameroon, with some cases still subject to legal challenges.

The Biden administration had previously extended TPS for Haiti, most recently in July 2024, for another 18 months, citing “simultaneous economic, security, political, and health crises” fueled by gang violence and a lack of a functioning government. However, the Trump administration, through Secretary Noem, attempted to shorten this extension in February 2025, a move a New York federal judge later ruled unlawful due to a lack of statutory authority.

In November, the Department of Homeland Security moved to terminate Haiti’s TPS status, asserting that there were “no extraordinary and temporary conditions” preventing migrants from returning. This claim is disputed by humanitarian organizations, with UNICEF estimating in October that over 6 million people – more than half of Haiti’s population, including 3.3 million children – require humanitarian assistance.

Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin indicated the administration intends to appeal the judge’s decision. “Haiti’s TPS was granted following an earthquake that took place over 15 years ago, it was never intended to be a de facto amnesty program, yet that’s how previous administrations have used it for decades. Temporary means temporary and the final word will not be from an activist judge legislating from the bench,” McLaughlin said.

The future of the program remains uncertain as the Trump administration is expected to pursue the case further, potentially taking it to the Supreme Court.