The Trump administration is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to allow it to end deportation protections for hundreds of thousands of Haitian migrants currently living in the United States.
According to Reuters, in an emergency filing Wednesday, the Justice Department requested that the nation’s highest court overturn a lower court ruling that blocked the administration’s attempt to terminate Temporary Protected Status, known as TPS, for Haitians. The request could affect more than 350,000 people who have been living and working legally in the U.S. under the humanitarian program.
TPS allows migrants to remain in the United States when conditions in their home countries make it unsafe to return. The designation provides temporary protection from deportation and work authorization for eligible individuals.
The legal fight centers on a decision made in November 2025 by then–Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who concluded there were “no extraordinary and temporary conditions” preventing Haitian migrants from returning to Haiti. That conclusion has been widely contested given the ongoing violence and instability in the Caribbean nation.
The U.S. State Department currently advises Americans not to travel to Haiti, warning of “kidnapping, crime, terrorist activity, civil unrest, and limited healthcare.”
Trump’s administration has pushed aggressively to narrow immigration protections since returning to office in January 2025 as part of a broader push toward mass deportations. Officials have argued that TPS was always intended to be temporary and should not serve as a long-term immigration solution.
The administration has already moved to terminate TPS for migrants from several countries. In October, the Supreme Court allowed the government to end protections for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans, and in February, the administration asked the justices to permit the removal of TPS protections for roughly 6,100 Syrians.
The Haiti case stems from a class-action lawsuit filed by Haitian migrants. U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes ruled on February 2 that the administration likely violated federal procedures and constitutional protections when it attempted to end the program.
Reyes wrote that plaintiffs allege the decision was influenced by “hostility to nonwhite immigrants,” adding that the claim “seems substantially likely.”
The Justice Department told the Supreme Court that repeated lower court blocks on TPS policy changes are harming national interests and foreign relations. The court asked the plaintiffs to respond to the administration’s request by next Monday.
TPS for Haitians was first granted in 2010 following the devastating earthquake that struck the country. The designation has been extended multiple times, most recently under former President Joe Biden, citing “simultaneous economic, security, political and health crises” in Haiti.
According to the International Organization for Migration, more than 1.4 million people in Haiti have been displaced by ongoing violence and instability.