In a move that could significantly affect hundreds of thousands of Haitian migrants, the Trump administration announced on Friday, June 27, 2025, its plan to revoke Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and associated work permits for Haitians beginning in early September. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated that it believes conditions in Haiti have improved sufficiently to warrant the return of TPS beneficiaries.
The decision will terminate a program that has granted legal status to Haitian nationals since 2010, following the catastrophic earthquake that devastated the island nation. The DHS emphasized that the longstanding TPS designation for Haiti will officially end on September 2, marking the conclusion of legal protections for an estimated 348,187 Haitian migrants currently living in the U.S.
“This decision restores integrity in our immigration system and ensures that Temporary Protective Status is actually temporary,” DHS said in a statement. “The environmental situation in Haiti has improved enough that it is safe for Haitian citizens to return home.”
Those who are unable to transition to another lawful immigration status—such as asylum or permanent residency—will lose their legal authorization to work and may be subject to arrest and deportation by federal authorities.
The Trump administration has further encouraged Haitians covered under TPS to depart voluntarily by using a smartphone app recently repurposed to streamline self-deportation. Officials warned that immigrants who do not voluntarily leave risk being located, detained, and forcibly removed.
TPS was created by Congress in 1990 to provide work permits and protection from deportation to individuals whose countries are suffering from war, natural disasters, or other extraordinary conditions. However, critics have accused the Trump administration of aggressively scaling back the program as part of broader efforts to reduce legal immigration and increase deportations.
Since taking office, the Trump administration has moved to end TPS protections for nationals of several countries, including Afghanistan, Cameroon, and Venezuela. Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the administration to proceed with terminating TPS benefits for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan recipients.
Despite DHS’s claim that Haiti’s conditions have improved, U.S. government sources continue to describe the country as deeply unstable. The U.S. State Department currently maintains a Level 4 travel advisory for Haiti, urging Americans not to visit due to high risks of “robbery, carjackings, sexual assault, and kidnappings for ransom.”
In contrast, the Biden administration significantly expanded TPS protections, granting eligibility to hundreds of thousands of migrants from countries such as Afghanistan, Cameroon, Venezuela, and Ukraine—including many who arrived at the U.S.–Mexico border by various means.
The divergent approaches between administrations underscore the contentious debate over the future of TPS and its role in U.S. immigration policy.
