Category: Temporary protected status
Springfield officials, Ohio activists brace for end to Haiti’s Temporary Protected Status designation
Springfield, Ohio, featured prominently in 2024 election-time debates as a case study in the fallout of the Biden-Harris administration’s disastrous immigration policies — a place where President Donald Trump suggested migrants were “eating the pets of the people that live there.”
The blue-collar city, which had a population of just over 58,000 in 2020, was flooded in subsequent years by tens of thousands of Haitian migrants — migrants whom Springfield Mayor Rob Rue admitted “taxed” the “infrastructure of the city, our safety forces, our hospitals, our schools.” According to the city, there are upwards of 15,000 migrants presently residing in Clark County alone.
‘Temporary means temporary.’
Many of the Haitians who overwhelmed Springfield and other American cities initially entered the U.S. illegally but were spared deportation on account of Haiti’s Temporary Protected Status. That status, which Haitian migrants have enjoyed since January 2010 and roughly 350,000 Haitian migrants enjoy today, is set to expire on Tuesday.
In anticipation of a potential immigration crackdown following the designation’s expiration date, Mayor Rue and members of the Springfield City Commission approved a resolution on Tuesday urging federal law enforcement to “comply with city policies on masks and officer identification to preserve the public peace within the community.”
Blaze News has reached out to Mayor Rue for comment.
Former DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas reinstated Haiti’s TPS in 2021, then doubled down in subsequent years, expanding eligibility for protection along the way.
The Trump Department of Homeland Security announced in July, however, that Haiti’s temporary status was coming to an end.
“After reviewing country conditions and consulting with appropriate U.S. Government agencies, the Secretary determined that Haiti no longer continues to meet the conditions for designation for TPS,” said the announcement in the Federal Register. “The Secretary, therefore, is terminating the TPS designation of Haiti as required by statute.”
RELATED: Trump administration halts visas for 75 nations whose people gobble up American welfare
Photo by Luke Sharrett/Getty Images
While DHS initially sought to terminate the TPS designation for Haiti on Sept. 2, 2025, the termination was blocked and the status preserved until Feb. 3 by the New York-based U.S. district court judge overseeing the case Haitian Evangelical Clergy Association v. Trump.
In November, the DHS noted that “in compliance with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York’s final judgment, the current Temporary Protected Status designation period for Haiti ends February 3, 2026.”
The loss of status would not only mean that previously covered Haitians will lose their work authorization but that they could be given the boot.
Emily Brown, Ohio State University Moritz College of Law’s Immigration Clinic Director, told the Ohio Capital Journal, “At that point, they could potentially be arrested, detained, or put in removal proceedings unless they have already applied for some other form of relief they have in addition to TPS, or that they are applying for in addition to TPS.”
The ACLU of Ohio is among the liberal activist groups panicking over the prospect of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement targeting Haitian migrants in Springfield starting on Feb. 4.
“This despicable surge in lawless ICE officers descending upon Springfield will ignite swells of fear within the Haitian community, terrorize our black and brown neighbors, and cause considerable damage to citizens and non-citizens alike,” stated J. Bennett Guess, executive director of the ACLU of Ohio.
“The ACLU of Ohio urges state and local elected officials to do everything in their power to protect the 30,000 Haitians living in Central Ohio,” he continued.
Prior to Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes — a Biden-appointed lesbian judge who previously worked as a lawyer to fight the first Trump administration’s immigration policy — could decide to suspend the expiration of Haiti’s TPS.
Reyes may be emboldened, after all, by a ruling on Wednesday from a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The panel — comprising three Democrat-nominated judges — suggested Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem exceeded her authority when ending the TPS for Venezuela and Haiti.
The appellate court’s ruling won’t have an immediate effect, as the U.S. Supreme Court cleared Noem in October to revoke temporary legal statuses while litigation proceeds.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in response to the appellate court’s ruling, “Temporary means temporary, and this is yet another lawless and activist order from the federal judiciary who continues to undermine our immigration laws.”
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Trump DHS makes ‘temporary’ finally mean temporary again, revoking Biden’s free pass for 4,000 foreign nationals
The Biden administration expanded so-called lawful pathways, allowing millions of foreign nationals to flood into the United States. One of those pathways included the controversial use of Temporary Protected Status.
TPS was created to provide a deportation shield to foreign nationals in the U.S. based on temporarily unstable conditions in their home countries.
‘This decision restores TPS to its original status as temporary.’
Since retaking office in January, President Donald Trump has moved to roll back TPS, which was provided to numerous countries under the prior administration.
Trump’s Department of Homeland Security announced on Monday the termination of TPS for Burma, effective January 26.
“At least 60 days before a TPS designation expires, the Secretary, after consultation with appropriate U.S. government agencies, is required to review the conditions in a country designated for TPS to determine whether the conditions supporting the designation continue to be met, and, if so, how long to extend the designation,” U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services stated.
“If the Secretary determines that the conditions in the foreign state continue to meet the specific statutory criteria for Temporary Protected Status designation, Temporary Protected Status will be extended for an additional period of 6 months or, in the Secretary’s discretion, 12 or 18 months,” USCIS continued. “If the Secretary determines that the foreign state no longer meets the conditions for Temporary Protected Status designation, the Secretary must terminate the designation.”
Burma was designated for TPS in May 2021, citing the Burmese military’s involvement in “a coup” that “depos[ed] the democratically elected government and declar[ed] a temporary one-year state of emergency,” which paused elections.
RELATED: Noem prepares to deport 500,000 immigrants from one long-troubled island
Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images
“The military is responding with increasing oppression and violence to demonstrations and protests, resulting in large-scale human rights abuses, including arbitrary detentions and deadly force against unarmed individuals,” the Biden administration claimed at the time.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem concluded that the situation in Burma has improved and that its citizens are safe to return home.
“This decision restores TPS to its original status as temporary,” Noem declared. “Burma has made notable progress in governance and stability, including the end of its state of emergency, plans for free and fair elections, successful ceasefire agreements, and improved local governance contributing to enhanced public service delivery and national reconciliation.”
Noem also concluded that allowing Burmese nationals to remain in the country would be “contrary to the national interest of the United States.”
RELATED: Trump admin revokes protected status extension for Venezuelan nationals
Photo by Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) called the move “cruel,” claiming that revoking TPS would endanger lives.
“Ending TPS for Burma, in the middle of the conflict there, endangers the lives of many Burmese, including human rights and democracy activists. It’s cruel and will undermine the fight for democracy in Burma. The admin must reconsider this terrible decision,” Meeks said.
There are nearly 4,000 approved TPS beneficiaries from Burma, according to DHS. Over 200 individuals reportedly have pending applications.
TPS is set to expire for several other nations, including Ethiopia in December, South Sudan in January, and Haiti in February.
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