SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — A federal judge on Monday stopped the Trump administration from moving forward with plans to end temporary legal protections for Haitians, a decision that would have affected an estimated 350,000 people living and working in the United States.
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, based in Washington, granted a request to pause the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians while a lawsuit challenging the move continues. The protections were set to expire on Tuesday.
The ruling brought a measure of relief to Haitian communities and advocacy groups. “We can breathe for a little bit,” said Rose-Thamar Joseph, operations director of the Haitian Support Center in Springfield. She cautioned, however, that the decision is not permanent. “A judge cannot redesign a country for TPS or extend the TPS, but it means a lot for us.”
Earlier in the day, concern over the looming deadline prompted a show of solidarity in Springfield, where two dozen faith leaders and hundreds of worshippers gathered to sing, pray, and voice support for Haitian migrants who feared losing their protected status.
In an 83-page opinion accompanying the order, Judge Reyes wrote that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed in their legal challenge. She also found it “substantially likely” that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had effectively predetermined the decision to end TPS for Haitians, citing what the judge described as hostility toward nonwhite immigrants.
The Trump administration, led by President Donald Trump, has sought to roll back several immigration protections, including TPS, which allows people from countries facing extraordinary conditions to remain in the U.S. temporarily.
The court’s order keeps those protections in place for now, as the legal fight over their future continues.
U.S. Immigration | By The HMI Magazine Staff
