Haitian immigrants lose TPS status, broader impact
Earlier this summer, the Supreme Court allowed the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for approximately 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians whose home countries have been torn apart by violence and instability, fueled in part by harmful U.S. foreign policy.
In Haiti, as the violence and unrest escalated, we kept asking ourselves, “What do we do now?” This is the same question we are asking ourselves now here in the United States.
When I first heard the news of the Supreme Court ruling in favor of the Trump administration, I felt numb and indifferent, but I soon realized that if I associate my self-worth with a piece of paper, then I am doing exactly what the government and media want me to believe: that I am somehow less human because of my status.
For families like mine, our survival is at stake. New York City, where I live, has the second-largest Haitian immigration population in the country, with a reported 163,000 immigrants and refugees living here, many in Brooklyn’s Little Haiti. Looking around my city and neighborhood, I see the silent look of fear painted on so many faces, and I wonder if they are as worried as I am.
A few years ago, my father was kidnapped in Haiti. After paying a ransom to free him, my family poured every last cent of their savings into getting my parents and me out of Haiti. It was unsafe for us to stay.
We arrived in the United States at 11 p.m. on a night I will never forget — exhausted, carrying everything we owned, and feeling something like peace for the first time in years.
Haiti’s TPS allowed my parents to work and make a living. They paid the bills and the mortgage, and gave me the chance to study and dream of a future. Now, just like that, the Supreme Court ruled against our safety and our right to continue to live and work in the place that we’ve come to consider as our home.
My parents, much like other TPS holders, are key contributors to a range of important industries, such as healthcare, construction, hospitality, automotive, meatpacking, and large retailers like Amazon. Haitian TPS holders contribute approximately $5.8 billion to the U.S. economy annually and pay $1.5 billion in taxes.
Many of these sectors are likely to face substantial labor shortages without the contributions of TPS holders. My parents poured their blood, sweat, and tears into giving me every opportunity. They were able to build a stable life, which in turn empowered me to become an engineering student at just 16 years old.
Yet, for Haitians seeking safety in the United States, the Trump administration has methodically closed every door. It terminated the Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan (CHNV) Parole Program; deactivated the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) One app; and shut down the Haitian Family Reunification Parole Program. The administration subsequently named Haiti as one of 75 countries placed on a visa ban list. One by one, the legal pathways that allowed Haitians to come to — or remain in — this country have been eliminated. As Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees documented in their December 2025 report, A Critical Hour for Haitian Immigrant Justice, TPS is not simply a preference for hundreds of thousands of people. It is the last protection standing.
We must urge lawmakers to extend TPS for Haitians through Senate Bill 4814 and guarantee lasting protections for Haitians and other vulnerable immigrant communities through the passage of bills like the American Dream and Promise Act.
This administration can try to suppress our dreams and endanger our lives, but our ancestor Toussaint L’Ouverture said it best: “Our roots are numerous and deep, and we will spring up again.”
No matter what happens, I will do everything I can to chart a different, more humane world for myself, my family, and everyone who continues to be dehumanized. I urge Congress to uphold their democratic duty and protect our constitutional right to stay.
Above all, I believe in people power, and in the power of young people. I encourage all my peers to get involved and fight the wave of unjust policies, including the fight to extend TPS protections. We must remember that we are all human.
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Here are some ways that you can join us in supporting Haitian and all TPS holders.
- Call your senators or email them using Faith in Action’s email-to-legislator page to urge them to vote yes on S. 4814 to extend TPS for Haitians until 2029.
- Call your U.S. House Representatives and demand that they sign the discharge petition and support the Dream and Promise Act (H.R. 1589), which would provide a dedicated pathway to citizenship for multiple vulnerable and overlapping groups: Dreamers — young people who came to the U.S. before 18 years of age, and TPS and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) holders from various countries.
- Get involved with court accompaniment programs, mutual aid networks, and your local rapid response networks in support and defense of immigrant communities in your neighborhood.
Sarah* is a Haitian immigrant engineering student living in NYC. AmNews editors agreed to allow her to write under a pseudonym to protect her identity.