Haitian Immigrants Almost Lost Their Temporary Protections. What Now?

0:07A judge in Washington, D.C. has given many Haitian immigrants in the U.S. a temporary lifeline. Late Monday, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes blocked the Department of Homeland Security from ending temporary protected status for Haitian immigrants living in the country, at least for now. Congress created the TPS program more than 25 years ago. The federal government applies it to countries with unsafe conditions like civil war or natural disaster, including Venezuela, Haiti, El Salvador, and Ukraine. More than a million immigrants from those places are in the U.S. under the program, allowing them to reside and work here legally.

0:44But a majority of them could soon lose that protection as the Trump administration moves to terminate their TPS coverage. In issuing her decision on Monday, Judge Reyes said DHS Secretary Kristi Noem didn't have the authority to end the program for Haitian immigrants and that the department's reasonings were flawed and ignored facts. She also said it seemed, quote, substantially likely, as plaintiffs in the case claimed, that Noem's decision to terminate the program was quote, preordained and because of hostility to non-white immigrants. The ruling gives Haitians with TPS some time to breathe easy, but the Trump administration indicated it will appeal this case to the Supreme Court.

1:24330 ,000 Haitians live in the U.S. under TPS and 150 ,000 more have applied to the program. What does it mean for them to lose temporary protected status, some of them after 16 years? What happens to the towns and cities with large, thriving Haitian populations? I'm Jen White. You're listening to the 1A Podcast. We'll talk about those questions and more with our guests and with you right after this short break.

1:53Let's start the conversation with our first guest. Joining us from Springfield, Ohio, is Amanda Becker. She's Washington correspondent for the 19th. That's a non-profit newsroom. Amanda, welcome back to 1A. So great to be here, Jen. So as we said, Amanda, the plan to end TPS for Haitian immigrants is temporarily on hold. What does that mean in practical terms for them in the near term? It kind of keeps everyone here in the same holding pattern they have been in for months now, really since Trump was elected, kind of promising to end TPS and, you know, crack down on immigration generally and also specifically related to the Haitians in Springfield, which of course, you know, played a very prominent role during the 2024 presidential campaign as kind of that ticket of now President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D.

2:47Vance, who was a senator representing Ohio at the time, spread lies and misinformation about some of the Haitians living here. So they are, a lot of them are still in the area. Some have left. Some have, you know, chosen to go to more anonymous places where they can blend in a little bit more. It's important to know Springfield is a city of about 60 ,000, give or take. And up to, you know, as many as one in four or one in five residents is a Haitian immigrant. And so they make up a large portion of this city in central Ohio, and they're very conspicuous. You know, they live in entire neighborhoods here.

3:26So a lot of the businesses that serve them are either closed or empty, as one restaurant was that I stopped at yesterday. And people are just kind of watching and waiting. You know, DHS has already said, Supreme Court, here we come, was their immediate response to that ruling from the D.C. Circuit. And so everyone is kind of in a holding pattern here, watching and waiting. Just remind us, what happened to Springfield's Haitian community after that lie you referred to during the presidential election became a national story? You said some of them decided to leave Springfield. Some of them did leave.

4:01They didn't feel comfortable here anymore. They didn't feel safe. You know, you had white nationalist groups that descended on this area. They were disrupting LGBTQ events and a local jazz festival that happens every year. They were protesting in front of City Hall. They were in front of the mayor's personal residence here in Springfield. There was swatting. There was harassment. Bomb threats were called in. So this was a very volatile time for the people of Springfield, both Haitian and longtime residents. And people are feeling echoes of that now as they wait for something that they don't know what shape it will take in terms of this anticipated immigration crackdown that's coming.

4:48So the potential end of Haitians' temporary protected status has been looming since February of last year. That's when Secretary Noem tried to rescind an extension from the Biden administration. So what are you hearing from people in Springfield about how they're preparing for the potential end of the program, especially for those Haitians who have become part of Springfield's economy? Yeah, I mean, they're people's neighbors at this point. They worship alongside them at church services on the weekends. Churches here have gone out of their way to provide translators and Haitian Creole services even at some of the churches.

5:25And so they have been preparing in kind of a mass mobilization to try to protect their neighbors, particularly after what we've seen happening in Minneapolis. So a lot of the charities and nonprofits here, there's a very strong faith community that's driving a lot of this. A lot of the churches are working together. They have networks delivering food, for example, because a lot of Haitians don't feel comfortable being out and about on the streets right now. even with this delay of the end of TPS for them. They have clinics set up, legal clinics, to help parents get passports because there are thousands of U.S.-born Haitian children here who are born to Haitian parents but are U.S.

6:12citizens. So there's been an effort to get them passports, get them documentation. So if their parents need to leave the U.S., either of their own volition or they are deported, they have the option of taking their children with them because they have the proper paperwork to do so. So those are just a couple of things. There are some churches who have been very outspoken in that they believe it is their Christian duty to, you know, offer a safe place to immigrants. And so I wouldn't rule out some of those churches, you know, taking people in in some situations. So it's really been an across-the-board community effort.

6:51And that's not to say that everyone here supports immigration or everyone supports Haitian immigration specifically. But by and large, this community has really united behind this group of people that they're trying to protect right now. One of the people you spoke to is Casey Rollins, executive director at Springfield's chapter of St. Vincent de Paul. That's a Catholic charity. She supported Haitian immigrants arriving in the city since 2016. and Rollins spoke to Cincinnati Public Radio in January about TPS and she explained how her organization is supporting Haitian families with U.S.-born children.

7:23And so we started thinking, you know what, it's really time to start thinking about the fact that these are American citizens. We probably are going to talk to them about family planning. Get a family plan together for your children in case you are deported. If you are deported, you have a plan which would include getting a passport for them so that either one, they can travel with you, or two, they can go with a family member or they can stay here or they can do whatever has to be done. Amanda, you also profiled Marjorie Kovaleski. She's lived in Springfield for more than two decades and she works with her daughter there as a go-to service provider for Haitians who need help.

8:04How does she fit into this network of support organizations in the city? What role does she play? Yeah, so she's kind of a one woman or now a two-woman effort now that her daughter is working with her. They were working out of an office in the back of a Haitian grocery store. That grocery store, as of yesterday, had closed for the time being until the immigration situation seems more stable here. And she essentially was fluent in Haitian Creole. And she got involved originally through her church, translating church services. Then she started becoming involved in English classes. and that turned into her being kind of a trusted member of the community.

8:43She was born in New York to Haitian immigrant parents, grew up translating English for her Haitian Creole-speaking grandmother, and so she realized she had this skill that was really needed about 10 years ago when Haitians started coming to Springfield in sizable numbers. So they would offer services, and at first it was completely free. Then they started accepting small sums to cover their supplies and things like that, But they were really offering interpretation services on a variety of levels just to help people at first, you know, set up their utilities, enroll their children in school. All these bureaucratic things about day-to-day life that are, you know, annoying but easy when you speak English become kind of an insurmountable task if you don't speak the language of an area.

9:30So for four days a week for the past couple of years, they have been working out of this Haitian grocery offering this help to the Haitian immigrants here because they're Haitian Creole speakers. And now in the past few months, she has been helping more people wind down things here as they went to various court appearances and things like that and thought maybe there might come a time when they have to leave. What are you hearing from Haitians themselves who are facing the potential end of this program? Yeah, so for months, as these groups and charities and organizations helping them in various capacities was eyeing this TPS end date for Haiti, they were warning them about it and saying, you know, make preparations.

10:18You need to prepare for the worst. And it can't be overstated what an impossible choice it will be for the vast majority of them if TPS ends. Most of them would actually like to return to Haiti at some point. You know, it's their home. It's where they grew up. But it's not safe enough. And so they have a very real fear that if they are forced to return, that they could be killed, they could be hurt, that their families could be killed or hurt. So that gives them the other option would be to go to a third country and start over again, like they started over in the United States. So many of them, given that this was an impossible choice, were just holding out hope for a last-minute reprieve because they had seen the courts a couple of other times, you know, swat down the administration's attempts to end TPS early.

11:13And so essentially this outcome is what they've all been praying for for months now because they didn't know what they were going to do otherwise because the choices available to them are not good. But again, this is a temporary reprieve. If the administration appeals this to the Supreme Court, what next? Yeah, so that's what everyone's waiting for now. It is a temporary reprieve. This does give, you know, this population a little bit more time to get ready to prepare for those worst case scenarios. But a lot of them, you know, when you're faced with the choice of do you set up guardianship for your children or do you take them back to a place you don't feel as safe for them, that's a really impossible choice to make for many parents.

12:03And there are thousands of U.S.-born children to Haitian parents just in Springfield. So these are U.S. citizens that have the right to stay here, even if their parents do not. So this gives them a little bit more time to maybe put a plan in place. You know, a lot of them have bought homes here. They have work here. It's a lot of work to uproot a life like that and, you know, start over again in a third place. And so this gives them a little bit more time. Based on what I've heard in my reporting, I do think that given this impossible choice that they have of TPS-ins, many of them will continue to pray for some sort of longer-term reprieve or permanent solution.

12:44And just as a reminder, since Haiti's president, Jovenel Moise, was assassinated in July 2021, conditions in that country have deteriorated significantly. There's gang violence. Gangs have taken over the capital of Haiti. High levels of poverty. Reports of sexual abuse. There's a lot happening in Haiti. It's also faced several climate disasters. So the idea of returning, I'm sure, would be overwhelming for anyone in that situation. We got this email from Anthony who says, I work for the city transit system in Asheville, and many of my regular customers are Haitians on TPS status who work at a local resort.

13:23They are the primary workers in this area and also my primary bus riders on that particular route. They've gone home for the season and are supposed to come back in March or April. Their loss of status will be a huge hit to their workplace and to mine. They are also some of the friendliest and most interesting bus riders that I have in a given day. Amanda, what are you hearing from elected city and county officials about the potential loss of legal status for so many of these residents who live in Springfield and are also a part of the economy? Yeah, not just city and county. These comments are coming all the way up from the governor, Republican Governor Mike DeWine of Ohio, who has been vocal in saying this could have devastating economic impacts for the greater Springfield area, not just the city itself, but Clark County and the counties surrounding it, where these workers have been in jobs that employers could not fill.

14:15Some employers have moved here specifically because they knew that there would be a reliable workforce here. And if that workforce disappears, DeWine and others have warned that it could be devastating. Springfield and Clark County was one of the only areas last year that did not add jobs in Ohio. And a lot of that is attributed, they believe, to kind of this fear about TPS ending and this uncertainty and employers not knowing whether they should continue to expand here, whether they will have a workforce or whether their workforce could disappear overnight. Some employers have already started pulling back in hiring Haitians, even though they do, if they're on TPS, have the legal ability to work.

14:58Because that puts you in a very precarious situation as an employer if one day overnight, a good chunk of your workforce is no longer able to work legally in this country. So these economic impacts will be felt far beyond just the Haitian community here in Ohio and in other places that rely on this work. So you've spent some time there. You've seen how Haitians and the TPS program live and work in their communities. You've plugged into these organizations that are supporting the Haitian community, and you've talked to officials. What are the next questions you have about what happens next? I think everyone is watching to see when the administration appeals, which they've said they will.

15:41They want it before the Supreme Court. I think everyone expects that to happen sooner rather than later. I think they will be very interested in what those filings argue and say. In the ruling we got from Judge Reyes from the D.C. Circuit, you know, she mentioned that there's supposed to be a review when you end TPS for a country. You know, you, Jen, have walked through how not only there was, you know, a devastating earthquake in 2010, there is gang violence, you know, government services day to day are pretty much non-existent in Port-au-Prince right now. So really, this is a situation where people are just trying to prepare for anything they can.

16:20And an important thing to note also is that the administration has closed off other pathways for them to get other types of statuses to set to stay. They've made it more difficult for a series of countries, including Haiti. Haiti is always on that list of countries that are no longer eligible for certain things that the administration is putting out. And so when you're coming from a country like Haiti, for example, for an asylum claim, you have to produce documentation and evidence such as photographs, et cetera, that you are personally at risk, personally in danger. That's very hard evidence to gather in a country that is kind of suffering from the conditions that Haiti is.

17:02So everyone is watching, waiting, waiting to see what the administration will argue. They did not do the review of safety conditions in Haiti before ending TPS. The judge noted that every time a TPS deadline has come up, the administration just says they're going to end it, which indicates that they aren't doing careful reviews of all of these programs. That's Amanda Becker. She's Washington correspondent for the 19th. She joined us from Springfield. Amanda, thank you. Thank you. We have to take a quick break here, but when we come back, we'll hear from some new voices and look at what the Trump administration can and can't change about TPS and what the future looks like for the program and the Haitians who've used it to stay in this country.

17:50Let's get back into the conversation with the message we got from Thomas in Washington, D.C. During the past five years, we have been the fortunate recipients of home care by members of the Haitian community here in the Washington metropolitan area. I have seen the Haitian community up close. I know the Haitian people to be committed and industrious, intelligent and loving. Those who are working for me have contributed far more to our well-being than I have to theirs. It would be very difficult, if not impossible, for us to replace the care they have and are providing for me and my wife. The Haitians are not interested in taking from our country.

18:33Rather, by their intelligence and commitment, they wish only to work hard and be productive. They have thrived here. I have seen what the prospect of ending TPS for Haitians has done to the community. It has dislodged and uprooted extended family units and caused great anxiety among the people. Thanks for that message. To hear more about the Temporary Protected Status program, let's hear now from two new voices. Marlena Daut is a professor of French and Black Studies at Yale University, and she joins us from New Haven, Connecticut. Marlena, welcome back to the program. Thanks so much for having me.

19:12And joining us in studio is Aaron Reikland-Melnick. He's a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council. That's a progressive think tank here in Washington, D.C. Aaron, welcome back to you as well. Thank you for having me. So, Marlena, the U.S. government designated Haiti under the TPS program in 2010. What was happening in Haiti up until that point? Well, Haiti had, you know, suffered under a number of different regimes, you know, since the end of the Duvalier era, which had ended in 1986. and Haiti's president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, suffered two different coup d 'etats. And previous to the earthquake, Haiti was in a moment of really trying to rebuild.

19:53The Haitian president at the time, René Préval, had a number of different programs going to try to revitalize the Haitian economy and the earthquake happened and sort of upset all of the progress that Haiti was trying to make on its own, previously having been occupied by the United States and the United Nations. Aaron, why did Congress create the Temporary Protected Status Program? So TPS was created in 1990 as a way to deal with the fact that the United States has had many situations where people are living here and come from a country that suffers some sort of disaster or outbreak of civil unrest or war, and those people shouldn't necessarily be forced to return to places where they're going to be killed.

20:39Prior to the 1990s, presidents had used discretionary powers really untethered to any specific law to allow those people to stay in the country rather than send them back during a crisis. And so in 1990, Congress said, we want to, rather than have this amorphous system that presidents can set however they want, create a new process that provides stability to people so that there is a real system. The government reviews whether these conditions are still ongoing. It determines whether the program should be continued. And then if things have improved, the TPS status is terminated. If things are still bad, then the TPS status should be renewed.

21:20And that should be consistent and stable between different administrations. Marlena, what should we know about Haiti's recent history that explains why more people left the country for the U.S. since the COVID-19 pandemic? Yes, absolutely. I mean, well, the first kind of huge waves of migration, of course, did come under the Duvalier regime. This is when, you know, the terrible moniker, boat people, was created. And the earthquake, subsequent coup d 'etats, the UN military mission, and the oppressions that brought with it, including the cholera outbreak, just created more situations for Haitians to want to leave the country due to lack of economic opportunity.

22:05And when President Moise was assassinated right in the middle of the pandemic, this exacerbated what is called pays loc in Haiti. Armed paramilitary groups had essentially shut down the country since about 2018 due to the end of the Petro-Caribe program. And this created a lot of pressure and actually increased immigration to the United States and elsewhere in the Americas from Haiti. Erin, I want to return to the decision by Judge Ana Reyes. It was released on Monday, temporarily blocking the immediate end of TPS for Haitian immigrants. What stands out to you in that decision? I think a couple of things stand out.

22:48First is the process by which Secretary Noem went about this decision. And Judge Reyes found that this was a predetermined outcome, that she went into the process knowing that they were going to terminate TPS. And I think that's most shown by the actual consultation they did, supposedly, to review the conditions in Haiti. Because by law, the secretary has to actually look at what's happening in the country and determine whether the conditions have changed. And these conditions were not the conditions about the earthquake in 2010. It was what happened after the assassination of the president. And the only review that the government was able to put forward was a single email from a staffer at the Department of Homeland Security to another staffer at the State Department asking what the State Department's position was.

23:34And 53 minutes later, the State Department staffer said they had no foreign policy concerns with termination. That was it. Judge Reyes included in the decision a transcript of her asking the government lawyer whether there was really nothing else, and the government admitted that single email was the only review of the conditions that they did in Haiti before making the decision. Now, beyond that, Judge Reyes also calls out the clear discrimination that President Trump and Secretary Noem have expressed against Haitians. Of course, President Trump, even since his first term, has said appallingly bigoted things about the Haitian community, Haitians in particular, Haiti calling it an asshole country.

24:17All of that came up again in this, as well as a tweet from Kristi Noem saying, we don't want any people from third world countries in this country. We are going to get them all out. And said it is very clear that this decision was not made neutrally with a review of the facts, but instead a predetermined decision based on animus against Haitians. So what is your understanding of the argument the administration might make if it appeals this to the Supreme Court? So the best argument the government has is on jurisdiction. And that's because the law that Congress passed when it created TPS contains a line of text that says no court is permitted to review any determination about whether to grant, extend, or terminate TPS.

25:04And on its face, that would seem to say that courts don't have the power to step in here. But what Judge Reyes said and what other judges have said in the past is that they're not deciding whether the decision to terminate was the right decision. They're deciding whether or not it was an actual decision based on anything or simply a decision made before the review was even necessary. In other words, they're not saying you made the wrong decision. They're saying you didn't go through the right process to decide whether to grant or extend or terminate. And that's a process required by law. That's right.

25:39By law, the secretary has to go through this process, has to review the country conditions. And Judge Reyes pointed out that just didn't happen here. Well, let's get to more from you. Jay writes, Kristi Noem says it's safe for Haitian immigrants to return home, although the U.S. State Department warns Americans do not travel to Haiti due to kidnapping, crime, terrorist activity, civil unrest, and limited health care. This is a sick game on the administration's part. Trump's immigration moves seem to be based on his dislike of immigrants of color, i.e. he wants to deport black Haitians but allow white South Africans to come here as refugees.

26:14One can only conclude his immigration policy is based on racism. Marlena, you're Haitian American, and we heard earlier from Amanda Becker with the 19th about the decision some families are facing if TPS goes away. Help us better understand the conditions in Haiti right now, not just within the capital, Port-au-Prince, but across the country as a whole? Yeah, the conditions are deteriorating and seemingly by the day. I mean, Port-au-Prince is at this point, the estimates are about 90 % under the control of armed paramilitary groups. And by the way, much of their weapons have been smuggled in through the United States, which is acknowledged by the Department of Justice, which has prosecuted individuals who brought or were attempting to bring guns to Haiti from Florida.

27:12So this is not a situation that doesn't involve the United States as much as there are Haitian actors involved. There are also foreign actors involved. But across the country as well, it is extremely difficult to travel. The Port-au-Prince airport is operating at a limited level. This requires Haitians to use the airport in Capahitien, which is in the north of the country. It is a very far drive or trek. And along the way, there are armed paramilitary groups in other cities and towns. And so Haitians who want to flee or want to leave or simply want to get out of Port-au-Prince face challenges there as well.

27:57The school system is currently not functioning. There are so many elements of society that have essentially broken down. And I think one of the things that Judge Reyes pointed out in her decision was that the Haitian immigrants who have come to the United States, who are here lawfully, that Secretary Noem wants to turn them into unlawful individuals in the United States. She wants to turn employed lawful immigrants who contribute billions in taxes, in Judge Reyes' words, into the legally unemployable. She complains of strains to our health care system. Her answer, turn the insured into the uninsured.