A federal judge issued a last minute reprieve for Haitians with Temporary Protected Status.
This preserves protections — for now — for thousands of Haitians living in the Springfield area and around the U.S.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, in Washington D.C., means that termination of TPS is paused while a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration moves forward.
Springfield's mayor Rob Rue said in a written statement that this ruling provides clarity and stability for families already a part of the city's community.
"It reflects the reality that many individuals are working, paying taxes, raising families and contributing every day to the life of our City," he said. "Maintaining that stability matters because unnecessary disruption creates uncertainty that serves no one. We respect the judicial process and remain committed to the well-being of the people who call our City home.”
The ruling came as TPS was set to expire at 11:59 p.m. Feb. 3.
"Kristi Noem has a First Amendment right to call immigrants killers, leeches, entitlement junkies, and any other inapt name she wants," Reyes wrote in her conclusion. "Secretary Noem, however, is constrained by both our Constitution and the APA to apply faithfully the facts to the law in implementing the TPS program. The record to-date shows she has yet to do that."
The Trump administration is expected to appeal.
Posting on X, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated that TPS "was never intended to be a de facto amnesty program, yet that’s how previous administrations have used it for decades. Temporary means temporary and the final word will not be from an activist judge legislating from the bench.”
The lawsuit was filed by five plaintiffs, including Vilbrun Dorsainvil of Springfield. Dorsainvil worked as a doctor in Haiti and now serves as an RN at Springfield Regional Medical Center.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit argued they would face imminent harm if TPS expired such as the risk of deportation and detention, separation from family members, and loss of work authorization. In 2021, 94.6% of TPS holders nationwide were employed, the judge noted in her ruling.
In recent weeks, Springfield leaders and residents have been bracing for a possible surge in ICE agents as the end of Temporary Protected Status neared.
More than 330,000 Haitians are living in the United States with TPS.
The George H.W. Bush administration enacted the TPS program in 1990.
Haitians were initially granted Temporary Protected Status after an earthquake in 2010 devastated the country and killed 222,570 people. The Biden administration extended it in 2021 after the assassination of the president of Haiti.
Gov. Mike DeWine recently called it a “mistake” for the federal government to take Temporary Protected Status away from Haitians.
“The gangs are controlling a good part of (Haiti), it’s extremely violent, the economy is in shambles, the government does not function, the police are virtually worthless,” he said, speaking to reporters on Jan. 30.
In her 83-page ruling, Reyes wrote that the Trump administration did not identify a single safe location in Haiti that is suitable to return to "even after the Court gave it additional time to do so."
Reyes also addressed the Trump administration's argument before the court about the meaning of the program being called "temporary" in the name.
She wrote temporary could refer to each extension period being no more than 18 months.
"Assuming that 'temporary' instead refers to the entire program’s duration for a designated country does not help the Government. 'Temporary' is any amount of time short of “permanent.” That does not tell us that a designation should last any length — short, medium, or long — even if we had a yardstick to measure time against (which we do not)," Reyes stated.
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