A federal judge on Monday blocked the Trump Administration's attempt to end protections that have allowed roughly 350,000 Haitians to live and work in the U.S., according to the Associated Press.
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington granted a request to pause the termination of Temporary Protected Status for Haitians while a lawsuit challenging it proceeds. The termination, which was set for Tuesday, “shall be null, void, and of no legal effect,” she wrote.
Reyes said in an 83-page opinion that plaintiffs were likely to prevail on the merits of the case, and that she found it “substantially likely” that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem preordained her termination decision because of “hostility to nonwhite immigrants.”
While the ruling grants temporary relief to Haitians, the next legal steps were unclear, the AP said.
TPS can be granted by the Homeland Security secretary if conditions in home countries are deemed unsafe for return due to a natural disaster, political instability or other dangers. While it grants TPS holders the right to live and work in the U.S., it does not provide a legal pathway to citizenship.
Haiti’s TPS status was initially activated in 2010 after a catastrophic earthquake and has been extended multiple times. The country is racked by gang violence that has displaced hundreds of thousands of people.
It is estimated that about 150,000 Haitians live in New York City and most of them call Brooklyn's Little Haiti neighborhood in Flatbush their home, according to Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso.
Brooklyn's Haitian community has been living in fear for many months, with many individuals not attending school and local business for fear of getting arrested by federal immigration officials.
