NEW YORK, CMC – Caribbean-American Democratic Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke has welcomed a United States federal decide’s ruling in Brooklyn, New York, in favor of Momentary Protected Standing (TPS) for Haitian immigrants.
Decide Brian M. Cogan of the Federal District Courtroom in Brooklyn earlier this month blocked President Donald J. Trump from ending TPS for greater than 520,000 Haitians who’re already in the USA.
Cogan dominated that the president’s try to all of a sudden rescind TPS for Haitians, a lot of whom have lived within the US for greater than a decade, is illegal.
The decide’s ruling preserves the Biden administration’s extension of TPS for Haitians till not less than February 3, 2026.
“Whereas Haiti continues to grapple with humanitarian, political and financial crises, and circumstances proceed to worsen with out an finish in sight, I’m grateful for the US District Courtroom for the Jap District of New York’s choice to increase protections for Haitian nationals till February of subsequent 12 months,” Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, who represents the ninth Congressional District in Brooklyn, informed the Caribbean Media Company (CMC) on Friday.
“Because the announcement that TPS would finish in September for lots of of 1000’s of Haitian migrants, my colleagues and I’ve relentlessly urged the Trump administration to increase protections for our most weak neighbors,” added Clarke, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. “And although the administration did not uphold its ethical and authorized obligations to take action, fortunately, some semblance of justice persists on this nation, and Haitians will stay protected in the meanwhile.”
She stated Haitian-Individuals have “contributed immensely to our communities and our economic system for many years.
“They’re an exquisite individuals, with a tradition deeply rooted and tied to this nation, and so they deserve greater than non permanent reduction,” the congresswoman stated. “It’s critical we stock on the momentum of this victory and don’t relent in our advocacy to safe their lasting security and prosperity.
“We should proceed to encourage this administration to do every little thing in its energy to save lots of lives and produce stability to Haiti and safety to its individuals,” Clarke added. “And that begins with extending Momentary Protected Standing for individuals who want it most.”
New York State Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, the primary Haitian-American serving within the New York State Legislature from New York Metropolis, additionally counseled the federal court docket’s choice to dam the Trump administration from “prematurely and cruelly ending Momentary Protected Standing for Haitian nationals.
“I applaud SEIU 32BJ, which led the lawsuit, and all authorized advocates for standing up for justice, together with our State Lawyer Normal Letitia James,” added Bichotte Hermelyn, the daughter of Haitian immigrants, who chairs the Brooklyn Democratic Social gathering.
32BJ of the Service Staff Worldwide Union (SEIU), the most important property service staff’ native union in the USA, sued the Trump administration, citing Trump’s “unlawful efforts to vacate the Biden administration’s designation and expose lots of of 1000’s of hard-working individuals, a lot of whom have spent many years dwelling and dealing within the US, to deportation inside simply two months.”
Bichotte Hermelyn, who represents the forty second Meeting District in Brooklyn, informed CMC that Cogan’s choice “upholds our constitutional values; recognizing the horrific realities in Haiti, whereas defending the authorized rights of Haitians who constructed new lives right here, and have referred to as the US house for over a decade.
“This pivotal ruling affirms the basic authorized precept that our authorities can’t arbitrarily upend the lives of immigrants, who’ve constructed their households, careers, and communities on this nation underneath the safety of regulation,” she stated.
“Haitian TPS recipients have escaped excessive terror and violence, as Haiti continues to grapple with unimaginable instability: rampant gang violence, political collapse, and the displacement of over one million individuals,” she added, stating that Haitian immigrants have used the chance to stay within the US “to indelibly contribute to the material of New York Metropolis and the complete nation -achieving and serving as an outsized portion of our well being care staff, educators, small enterprise house owners, and important frontline staff.”
The assemblywoman stated the US Division of Homeland Safety’s (DHS) try to strip away these protections months earlier than their lawful expiration was “not solely merciless, but additionally a blatant and focused violation of TPS designations.”
Subsequently, she stated Cogan’s ruling is “a significant reprieve from this unconscionable try.
“Nonetheless, this battle just isn’t over,” Bichotte Hermelyn warned. “We should stay vigilant towards Republicans’ ongoing efforts to dismantle humanitarian protections by means of xenophobic mass deportation.
“New York resolutely stands with our Haitian neighborhood, and we are going to by no means cease preventing for our proper to stay free from worry,” she affirmed.
32BJ SEIU President Manny Pastreich informed CMC that the court docket victory “exhibits not solely that we will battle again, however we will win.
“We’re proud to have represented our Haitian members and the broader Haitian neighborhood – and we’re grateful to our union brother, Gerald Michaud, and his spouse, Nadége, for main the best way,” he added. “And whereas the battle is much from over, this is a crucial step.
“We’ll preserve preventing to ensure this choice is upheld,” Pastreich continued. “We’ll preserve preventing for the rights of our members and all immigrants towards the Trump administration – within the streets, within the office, and the courts as effectively,” he stated. “And once we battle, we win.”
With greater than 185,000 members throughout 12 states and Washington, D.C., 32BJ SEIU is the most important property service staff union within the nation.
32BJ SEIU said that its members come from 64 totally different nations and converse 28 totally different languages.
On July 1, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem introduced the termination of TPS, leaving over 500,000 Haitians with out work permits and going through deportation.
The non permanent parole program for Haitians would expire on August 3, 2025, and the termination would take impact on September 2, 2025. However, in his ruling, Cogan stated, “Secretary Noem doesn’t have statutory or inherent authority to vacate a rustic’s TPS designation partially.”
Subsequently, Cogan dominated that Noem’s “partial vacatur have to be put aside as illegal underneath the (Administrative Process Act).” He stated that “plaintiffs’ accidents are precise and imminent,” stating that “an award of cash damages can’t treatment them.
“If the partial vacatur stays in impact till the ultimate decision of this case, plaintiffs will lose their proper to stay and work in the USA based mostly on what the court docket has already discovered was an illegal motion,” Decide Cogan added.
New York Lawyer Normal Letitia James joined widespread condemnation of Trump’s termination of TPS for Haiti amid the French-speaking Caribbean nation’s escalating humanitarian disaster.
“If our federal authorities deems Haiti unsafe for Americans to go to, how can we justify deporting weak households to the exact same circumstances?” requested James, urging the Trump administration to “promptly rethink this choice and prolong Momentary Protected Standing for Haitian nationals.
Moreover, the New York Lawyer Normal urged the US Congress to enact laws that grants everlasting authorized standing to TPS holders, who’ve “constantly demonstrated their worth.”
Caribbean immigration advocates additionally denounced Trump’s termination of TPS for Haiti.
“The Trump administration’s choice to finish TPS for Haiti is a merciless assault on Haitian New Yorkers and is one other instance of this administration’s ongoing efforts to destabilize immigrant communities and tear households aside,” Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), an umbrella coverage and advocacy group that represents over 200 immigrant and refugee rights teams all through New York, informed CMC.
“Haitians are our relations, neighbors, our healthcare staff, our enterprise house owners–people who find themselves important to the social and financial cloth of New York,” he stated. “Forcibly eradicating them and sending them again to the instability and violence they as soon as fled is brutal and inhumane.”
Awawdeh stated the Trump administration has no justifiable purpose to place Haitian New Yorkers on a quick observe to deportation aside from “politics and cruelty”, calling on the New York Congressional Delegation and Congress to “act now and supply everlasting protections for all TPS holders and stand towards Trump’s merciless insurance policies.”
In response to the United Nations’ Worldwide Group for Migration (IOM), as of Could 2025, over 1.3 million individuals in Haiti are internally displaced, many fleeing armed gangs that now management over 80 % of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
