The Trump administration has terminated Haiti’s Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program, with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announcing that the designation will expire in February 2026.
Haiti was initially designated as a country with TPS by the Obama administration in 2010 following an earthquake that killed over 200,000 people and injured another 300,000. At the time, officials contended that the initial 18-month designation was necessary due to severe damage to Haiti’s critical infrastructure.
Subsequent designations have been extended and redesignated multiple times, with authorities citing national disaster recovery efforts, gang violence, and instability as reasons for maintaining TPS status.
“For more than a year, my bill to extend TPS for Haiti has sat without a vote in the House of Representatives. That’s unacceptable,” stated one lawmaker involved in the effort.
Four Republican lawmakers have joined Democrats in an effort to keep 350,000 Haitian nationals from losing their deportation protections under TPS.
The Department of Homeland Security estimates that roughly 353,000 individuals currently hold TPS status.
