Homeland Security blasts judge’s decision to pause termination of Haitian TPS
The Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday sharply criticized a federal judge’s decision to pause the administration’s effort to end deportation protections for Haitians, signaling that the dispute could soon reach the nation’s highest court.
“Supreme Court, here we come,” DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in response to a ruling late Monday by Judge Ana C. Reyes of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.
Reyes ordered a stay of the administration’s decision to terminate Temporary Protected Status for more than 300,000 Haitians living in the United States. The order temporarily nullifies DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s announcement that Haiti would lose its designation at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, which would have stripped beneficiaries of work authorization and put them at risk of detention and deportation.
In a sharply worded ruling, issued in a two-page order and an accompanying 83-page decision, Reyes found that the termination of Haiti’s TPS designation was motivated, at least in part, “by racial animus” and was “not the product of reasoned decision-making, but of a preordained outcome justified by pretextual reasons.”
The plaintiffs in the case argued that the decision was made because they are Black, and while they cited numerous comments made by President Donald Trump, Reyes focused particularly on comments made by Noem. The DHS secretary has described Haitians — and people from 18 from other nonwhite countries — as “leeches,” “entitlement junkies,” and “foreign invaders” who “suck dry our hard-earned tax dollars” and has expressly claimed that “WE DON’T WANT THEM. NOT ONE.”
Reyes noted that post on X from the secretary where she recommended that Trump “ban anyone from Haiti coming into the U.S.” also occurred a mere three days after she made the termination decision. She noted that “Noem has terminated every TPS country designation to have reached her desk—twelve countries up, twelve countries down.”
“Even if the Court ignored President Trump’s statements altogether,” Reyes wrote, “Secretary Noem’s expressed animus towards nonwhite foreigners would support a stay.”
McLaughlin denounced both the ruling and the judge.
“This is lawless activism that we will be vindicated on,” she said in a post on X. “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,” she went on to say, “and the final word will not be from an activist judge legislating from the bench.”
TPS was created by Congress for countries where conditions are such that their nationals cannot safely return home. While Haiti’s designation was given after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake nearly destroyed Port-au-Prince and left more than 300,000 dead and 1.5 million homeless.
Since then, conditions in Haiti have continued to deteriorate. The country has no elected president or parliament, and criminal gangs — designated by the Trump administration as global and foreign terrorists — control large swaths of Port-au-Prince and are expanding elsewhere. Violence, mass displacement, widespread sexual assault, hunger and malnutrition are rampant.
Advocates say the court order is a victory for the rule of law over a termination that was “unjustified, illegal, and racist.”
“This case is dangerous precisely because DHS knew that its factual assertion—that it was safe to return to Haiti—was preposterous, and it did not even try to follow the TPS statute’s required review process,” said Brian Concannon, executive director of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti. “The administration just tried to bully the court into rubber stamping its illegal policy.”
He and others, however, are aware that DHS might seek relief through the Supreme Court’s emergency docket, as it did in other TPS cases last year, rather than through the normal route of appeals. In previous cases the high court has allowed the administration to detain and deport immigrants while challenges go through the courts.
“Six judges, appointed by Republican and Democratic presidents, have ruled on Trump Administration efforts to terminate Haitian TPS since 2018 and all six have found those efforts to be illegal,” said Blaine Bookey, legal director of the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies. “If DHS now appeals to an appeals court, it will lose. If DHS uses the Supreme Court’s shadow docket to reinstate its indefensible action, everyone in America will lose the rule of law that undergirds our stability and prosperity.”
During a press conference at the Florida Capitol on Tuesday, Democratic leaders said they plan on working with Congress if DHS appeals yesterday’s decision to the Supreme Court.
State Rep. Dotre Joseph, a Haiti-born Miami Democrat, said the Democratic caucus is working with legal and advocacy groups to ensure Haitian TPS recipients “know their rights, even though we see time and time again that certain immigration law enforcement officers are not following or obeying the Constitution.”
“We are making sure that people understand how to protect themselves,” Joseph said. “We are making sure that people also know how to prepare in the event they are eventually detained and or deported.”
Another Miami-area Democrat, State Rep. Wallace Aristide, told reporters that his office was inundated with calls from concerned Haitians. “They were losing jobs,” Aristide said. “They were getting a pink slip, and it was a blessing when we heard [the decision] last night.”
“But remember: This is only temporary,” he added. “We must continue. We will encourage. We’ll reach out to people in Congress. We will see what we can continue to do. I can’t thank the people enough that are beside us that made a decision. They’re gonna show that Haitian love today.”
On Tuesday, Republican U.S. Rep. María Elvira Salazar of Miami became the first member of her party to sign onto a petition to force a House vote to protect Haitians from losing their temporary immigration protections. The so-called discharge petiton, which needs 218 votes, was filed by Democratic Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts.
“Haiti is in the middle of a profound humanitarian and security collapse, and this demands leadership from the United States,” Salazar said in a statement her office shared with the Miami Herald. “Sending people back into gang-controlled chaos is neither realistic nor humane.
“That’s why I signed the discharge petition to move forward with extending Temporary Protected Status for Haitian nationals,” said the congresswoman who has filed an immigration bill of her own to offer remedies to immigrants who lack citizenship or permanent residency. “I will continue to stand firmly with the Haitian people and support every responsible effort to ensure their safety and stability, as well as support a future free, safe, and prosperous Haiti for people to return to.”
Salazar’s support was announced at a press conference in North Miami. Sponsored by the city and Family Action Network Movement, FANM, it featured a number of Haitian community leaders, immigrant rights activists and elected officials including Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. Paul Christian Namphy, political director of FANM, called on the community to contact members of Congress and to ask for three things: TPS extension for Haiti, which would provide up to 18 months of additional protections; TPS redesignation for Haiti, which would allow others to benefit, and the congressional discharge petition for TPS.
“This is a bipartisan effort,” now that Salazar has signed on with other Democrats, Namphy said. “The first Republican signed on today, and if enough Democrats and enough Republicans signed on, we can get to the 218 votes.”
If the case ends up before the U.S. Supreme Court, speakers wondered about the role of Justice Amy Coney Barrett. A conservative justice appointed by Trump during his first term, Barrett is mother to two children she adopted from Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. North Miami Vice Mayor Kassandra Timothe, acknowledging Barrett’s ties to Haiti, said that should the administration appeal to the Supreme Court to allow it to continue deporting Haitians while the case is being litigated in the lower courts, she prays that Barrett will answer the question, “Will you send your child back home?”
“While the future of TPS remains uncertain, we will continue to pray for justice,” Timothe said. “We will continue to pray for protection for the immigrant community and the courage to continue advocating until permanent solutions are secured.”
William O’Neill, the United Nations’ independent expert on the human rights situation in Haiti, hailed the decision.
“As I have said before, no one should be forced to return to Haiti from any country,” he said. “The situation in Haiti is catastrophic: kidnappings, murders and gang rapes while half the population does not have enough to eat. There is no possibility for a safe and dignified return in these circumstances.”
This story was originally published February 3, 2026 at 12:21 PM.
