Buenos Aires, Argentina – The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday heard arguments in the Trump administration’s attempt to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians, which protects Haitian immigrants from deportation.
The Supreme Court's decision, which could come in the coming months, could affect the approximately 350,000 Haitians currently living in the United States.
Then-Christie Noem’s Department of Homeland Security vindicated February’s decision explain Noem “determines that there are no extraordinary or temporary circumstances in Haiti that would impede Haitian nationals” […] unable to return to safety” and that “allowing Haitian nationals to return to the United States is contrary to the national interests of the United States” […] Stay. “
Immigrant rights advocates, however, paint a different picture.
Daniel Berlin, Director of Pathways to Protection Policy at the International Rescue Committee (IRC), tells us latin america report “Haiti continues to face a complex crisis characterized by food insecurity, displacement, deadly disease outbreaks and a surge in gang violence that is dangerous for those forced to return.”
He added: “Forced recruitment of children has increased by 200 per cent as criminal gangs increasingly use sexual violence to instill fear in communities, with some groups at particularly high risk, particularly women and children.”
Haitians first received TPS in 2010 after a devastating earthquake, and their protections have been expanded several times since then, including after the assassination of Jovenel Moise, the Caribbean country's last democratically elected president.
Since Moise's assassination in 2021, Haiti has suffered from institutional collapse and rampant gang violence.
More than 8,100 people were killed Recorded nationwide between January and November last year Up to half of the members According to the United Nations, members of these deadly armed groups are children.
As a result, IRC Report 73% of families feel unsafe where they sleep and 60% do not send their children to school due to fears of abduction, recruitment and fighting.
Berlin warned that “if TPS is terminated, the government may immediately initiate legal proceedings to deport people who have no other status.”
That reality led the plaintiffs to argue that the Trump administration failed to follow due process in assessing the situation in Haiti.
this new york times report Earlier this week, government officials misrepresented evidence to justify canceling TPS for Haitians. Internal emails show data that did not support the government's argument had been removed from the research report.
In addition, the lawyers cited President Trump's frequent use of inflammatory language against the Haitian people and argued that the government's decisions were racially motivated and would violate the Constitution's prohibition on discriminatory government actions.
Trump has previously described Haitian immigrants as undesirable because they are from “dirty, filthy, disgusting” National and claim They've been eating their neighbors' pets in Springfield, Ohio.
The lower court judge handling the case found that Noem's decision was effectively predetermined and was not subject to meaningful analysis, delaying the termination of TPS for Haitians.
Government lawyers asked the conservative-dominated Supreme Court to intervene, arguing that the court had no authority to review Noem's decision.
At the same session, the Supreme Court also heard arguments regarding TPS for 6,100 Syrians in the United States.
Featured Image Description: Protests at the U.S. Capitol against the revocation of Temporary Protected Status for Haitian immigrants on March 6, 2026.
Featured image credit: @MarioNawfal via X.
