politics
Supreme Court Agrees to Hear TPS Case for Haitians and Syrians
The U.S. Supreme Court will review the Trump administration's effort to terminate temporary protected status for over 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians. The case draws on lawsuits challenging the move, amid historical context of U.S.-Haiti relations. A ruling is expected by summer 2026.
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The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments on May 4, 2026, in a case challenging the Trump administration's decision to terminate temporary protected status for over 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians. Temporary protected status allows immigrants from designated countries to remain in the United States until conditions in their homelands improve, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security.
The administration's action followed President Trump's 2024 campaign promise to end protected status for Haitians, with the decision implemented one month after his January 2025 inauguration. The status for Haitians had been granted following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.
A federal appeals court reaffirmed the protections in a February 2026 decision, prompting the government's appeal to the Supreme Court.
U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes ruled that the decision to end protections for Haitians was influenced at least in part by racial animus. In response, the government argued in court filings that courts have improperly limited presidential authority granted by Congress to designate and terminate such statuses.
According to a court filing by Solicitor General D. John Sauer, "none of the relevant statements involve race, many were made before the election, and most have nothing to do with temporary protected status." Kristi Noem served as Secretary of Homeland Security during the initial decision.
The Supreme Court is not expected to issue a ruling until summer 2026. The case draws on a long history of U.S.-Haiti relations. In 1804, Haiti became the first independent Black nation in the Western Hemisphere after a revolution, though the U.S. recognized Haiti's sovereignty decades later, according to Haitian American author Georges Fouron in an article from The Marshall Project.
The U.S. occupied Haiti from 1915 to 1934. Haitian immigration to the U.S. increased during the 1960s and 1970s under dictator Francois 'Papa Doc' Duvalier. In the late 1960s, under President Richard Nixon, many Haitian skilled blue-collar workers and farm workers obtained green cards, Fouron said.
