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Haitian immigrants allowed to stay for now

Judge says cancellation of TPS appears improper

By: Hannan Adely
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... Members of New Jersey's Haitian community celebrated news that a federal count had blocked the Trump administration from canceling Temporary Protected Status for Haiti, even as they braced for uncertainly ahead.
..... The TPS designation, which was set to end on February 3. [2026] protects more than 330,000 Haitians living in the United States from deportation and allows them to legally work here.
..... While they welcomed the last-minute reprieve, community members remained on edge. The clout order is a temporary say and not a final resolution, and the Trump administration has filed an appeal. Haitians - who have lived in the United States with TPS for up to 16 years -say the cancellation of the program would upend lives and put them at risk of deportation to a country facing turmoil and violence.
..... "Cancellation of TPS, at this point right now, is not only unethical but it's also immoral because of the sate of the country right now," said the Rev. Jean Maurice, who leads a Haitian congregation at the Temple of Unified Christians in East Orange. [NJ]
..... "There is no stability. There is no security. If Haiti was stable, that's a different story. But we have gangs. There is a lack of food and water. The infrastructure is not there."
..... People are "worried and afraid," the reverend added, especially as they see aggressive action by mitigation authorities to detain and deport non-citizens. The president of the Haitian Pastors Association, Maurice said other clergy were reluctant to talk to press about the matter over fear that their congregations would be targeted.
..... TPS grants protection to foreign nationals whose country is deemed unsafe for return due to war, natural disaster or other extraordinary circumstances. The Department of Homeland Security designate TPS for Haiti in 2010 after a massive earthquake and repeatedly renewed it amid worsening crises due to political instability, violence and displacement.
..... Today [02/06/2026] Haiti is one of 11 countries that have lost or are at risk of losing TPS designation since President Downland Trump entered his second term. The changes are part of a broader effort by the administration to restrict illegal and legal mitigation that critics say has targeted nonwhite communities.
..... In an 83-page opinion, U,S, District Judge Ana Reyes echoed those concerns , finding hat it was "substantially likely" that DHS made its decision "because of hostility to nonwhite immigrants" rather than as a result of a meaningful review of country conditions. The February 2 [2026] ruling noted public comments by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Trump that insulted, made false claims and spread negative stereotypes about Haitians and other nonwhite immigrants.
..... In one comment on X, three days after announcing her decision to revoke Haitian TPS, Noem wrote: "I am recommending a full travel ban form every damn country that has been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies" who "slaughter our heros, suck dry our hard-earned tax dollars, or snatch the benefits owed to AMERICANS, WE DON'T WHAT THEM. NOT ONE."
..... In other public statements, Trump described immigrants as "poisoning the blood" of the country, called Haitian mitigation a "death wish," and expressed a preference for immigrants from predominatney white countries.
..... "The plaintiffs are five Haitian TPS holders," wrote Reyes, of the U.S. district Court for the District of Columbia. "They are not, it emerges, 'killers, leeches, or entitlement junkies.' They are instead: Fritz Emmanuel Lesly Miot, a neuroscientist researching Alzheimer's disease, Rudolph Civil, a software engineer at the national bank, Marlene Gail Nobele, a laboratory assistant in a toxicology department, Marica Merline Laguerre, a college economics major, and vilbrum Dorsaninvil, a full-time resistered nurse."
..... Noem's decision to end TPS, Reyes wrote, appeared to be "preordained." The agency did not follow the law requiring a review of current country conditions, consultations with other agencies and equal protection regardless of race or national origin, Reyes concluded.
..... Lawyers for the Trump administration rejected claims hat officials did not follow the law. They argued that statements about immigrants were taken out of context and had no direct connection to the TPS decision. They said Noem has "set forth extensive reasoning and analysis supporting her termination determination: and accused the court of overstepping executive authority in mitigation matters.
..... "Temporary Protected Status is, by definitional, temporary," White house spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement to The Record. "It was never intended to be a pathway to permanent status or legal residency, no matter how badly left-wing judges want tit to be. TPS is committed to the discretion of the Secretary of Homeland Security, not lower court judges."

'Fight far from over'

..... Bergsin Leneus, a Haitian American community leader and East Orange [NJ] councilman, said he was inspired by the judge's "bold" and "scathing" ruling. But he worried about the future for TPS holders, saying that "the fight is far from over."
..... At least 46,360 people living in New Jersey are TPS recipient, with most from Venezuela and Haiti, according to a 2025 congressional report. Overall, New jersey has the fourth larges population of Haitians, after Florida, New York and Massachusetts. Many are employed as home health aides, nurses, retail workers or small business owners.
..... Haitian TPS holds contribute an estimated $5.9 billion to the U.S. economy and pay about $1.6 billion in taxes annually, according to a report last month [01/2026] by the advocacy groups FWD.us , UndocuBlack Network and the Haitian Bridge Alliance.
..... In New Jersey, where they pay about $34 million inn annual stat and local taxes, 9,000 are in the workforce - including 2,000 employed as nursing assistants.
..... Health care leaders have warned that nursing homes, already struggling with labor shortages, may have to close their doors if they lose their Haitian workers.
..... "To the members of our community who have lived with the uncertainly of TPS status - who have built lives, raised families, contributed to our economy and enriched our culture while carrying the weight of temporary protection - we see you, we stand with you, and we will not abandon you," he said.
..... At a February 2 [2026] press conference in East Orange, [NJ] he joined other Haitian American lawmakers clergy and advocates to call for extension of TPS for Haitians. They pledged to continue helping affected families to know their rights, connect to legal aid and plan for emergencies. Leneus and others also called on federal lawmakers to pass immigration reform with paths to citizenship for TPS holders who have contributed to their American communities for years or decades.
..... "Our TPS-protected neighbors deserve more then temporary measures," he said. "They deserve the dignity of permanence, the security of citizenship, and the recognition of tier rightful place in the American story."

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