WASHINGTON 鈥� The Trump administration is throwing out protections that shielded roughly from deportation, meaning they would lose their temporary work permits and could be eligible to be removed from the country by August.
The decision, announced Thursday, is part of a sweeping effort by the Trump administration to make good on campaign promises to carry out mass deportations and specifically to scale back the use of the Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, designation, which was widely expanded under the Biden administration to cover about 1 million immigrants.
The TPS designation gives people legal authority to be in the country but doesn鈥檛 provide a long-term path to citizenship. They are reliant on the Department of Homeland Security for renewing their status when it expires. Critics say over time, renewal of status becomes automatic, regardless of what鈥檚 happening in the person鈥檚 home country.
The decision will have far-reaching implications for tens of thousands of Haitians and their families in South Florida, home to one of the largest Haitian-American communities in the nation.
U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami Gardens, said returning Haitians in the U.S. to Haiti would be "a kiss of death鈥� and 鈥渘ot just wrong 鈥� it鈥檚 inhumane.鈥�
鈥淭his decision is completely outrageous and part of this administration鈥檚 reign of terror,鈥� said Wilson. 鈥淭he turmoil in Haiti is real, and instead of turning our backs, we should be supporting the Haitian people.鈥�
鈥淭he United States has long been a beacon of hope for those seeking refuge from danger, and we cannot abandon that responsibility now,鈥� she said in pledging to fight the administration鈥檚 actions.
Added Wilson: 鈥淲e cannot be in the business of deporting over 500,000 Haitian people, many of whom I represent, back to a country that is still riddled with gang violence and instability. It鈥檚 wrong, wrong, wrong!鈥�
鈥淩evoking TPS protections for Haitians legally in the U.S. is an ugly and visceral reminder that the Trump administration is trying to make as many individuals as possible deportable,鈥� said Vanessa C谩rdenas, Executive Director of America鈥檚 Voice, which advocates for immigration reform in Congress.
鈥淯nfortunately, deporting Haitians, who have been here with lawful and legal status, back to a nation still in the throes of crisis will only fuel more chaos in U.S. communities and in Haiti alike,鈥� she said in a statement.
Gepsie Metellus, who heads the Haitian nonprofit Sant La Neighborhood Center in North Miami, told SA国际传谋 the political and economic situation in Haiti remains unstable and dangerous for Haitians to be returned from the U.S.
"This decision to rescind TPS for is unfortunate. It neither reflects the security interests of the US, nor those of neighboring Caribbean and Central American nations," she said.
"It鈥檚 also very disheartening that the current state of gang control and violence is not compelling enough for the Trump Administration to allow Haitian TPS holders the opportunity to continue to legally live and work in the US until the situation is stabilized. I hope they will reconsider."
READ MORE: South Florida lawmakers: Venezuela 'still not safe' for nationals with TPS to return
Failed TPS, says Trump administration
The Department of Homeland Security said it was vacating a Biden administration decision to renew for Haitians, saying the TPS program had been "exploited and abused" for decades.
鈥淔or example, Haiti has been designated for TPS since 2010," said DHS in a statement announcing the change. "The data shows each extension of the country鈥檚 TPS designation allowed more Haitian nationals, even those who entered the U.S. illegally, to qualify for legal protected status.鈥�
Homeland Security officials said an estimated 57,000 Haitians were eligible for TPS protections as of 2011, but by July of last year, that number had climbed to 520,694. Florida has nearly 300,000 TPS holders.
It's not immediately clear how quickly they could be deported once their protections expire. Some may apply for other types of protection, and there are logistical challenges to carrying out such large-scale deportations.
Haiti鈥檚 migration director, Jean Negot Bonheur Delva, said only 21 Haitians have been deported so far under the Trump administration, but he noted that the group had already been scheduled for deportation under Biden. There were a total of nine flights to Haiti in 2024, according to Witness at the Border, an advocacy group that tracks flight data.
Delva cited worries about the strain of sending people back to a country still reeling from violence and where more than 1 million people are homeless because of gang violence.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very sad that people who left Haiti to look for a better life elsewhere 鈥� will come back,鈥� Delva said. 鈥淲ith the insecurity problem, the lack of resources, they will be miserable.鈥�
More than 5,600 people were reported killed last year in Haiti, according to the U.N. And many of the displaced are living in overcrowded makeshift shelters including abandoned government buildings where rapes are becoming increasingly common.
Gangs rule Haiti capital
Gangs control 85% of Haiti鈥檚 capital and have launched new attacks to seize control of even more territory. Recent massacres have claimed the lives of hundreds of civilians.
Delva said Haiti鈥檚 government recently created a commission to help those deported.
鈥淭hey are children of Haiti. A mother must receive her children from wherever they are,鈥� he said.
Congress created TPS in 1990 to prevent deportations to countries suffering from natural disasters or civil strife, giving people authorization to work in increments of up to 18 months at a time.
Toward the end of the Biden administration, 1 million immigrants from 17 countries were protected by TPS, including people from Venezuela, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Afghanistan, Sudan, Ukraine and Lebanon.
The Trump administration has already moved to end the .
Two nonprofit groups Thursday filed a lawsuit challenging that decision.
SA国际传谋 America's Editor Tim Padgett and SA国际传谋 News Staff contributed to this story.
