On Monday, a federal decide in San Francisco, CA, heard a problem from a bunch of Caribbean Momentary Protected Standing (TPS) holders towards what they described because the Trump administration’s illegal termination of TPS humanitarian aid.
Particular person Venezuelan and Haitian TPS holders are asking the court docket to pause US Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem’s choice to finish protections by April 2 whereas the case strikes by means of the courts.
The San Diego, California-based Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) mentioned some 350,000 Venezuelan TPS holders will lose work authorization and authorized standing by the primary week of April.
HBA additionally mentioned that, on account of Trump’s actions, 250,000 Venezuelan TPS holders and 500,000 Haitian TPS holders threat dropping their protected standing this summer time.
HBA mentioned the listening to is the primary in NTPSA v. Noem, a lawsuit filed in February difficult the administration’s choice to cancel protections that the prior secretary had already granted.
It mentioned Noem’s actions are “unprecedented.”
The plaintiffs additionally argue that the actions are “with out authority and motivated by racism.”
The swimsuit seeks to guard over a million Haitian and Venezuelan TPS holders, HBA mentioned.
It mentioned the marketing campaign to guard TPS is led by the Nationwide TPS Alliance, a member-led group of tens of 1000’s of TPS holders and the lead plaintiff within the case.
The plaintiffs are represented by the Nationwide Day Laborer Organizing Community (NDLON), the ACLU Foundations of Northern California and Southern California, the Middle for Immigration Legislation and Coverage on the UCLA College of Legislation, and the Haitian Bridge Alliance.
“Right now, we stand united to defend the rights of over a million TPS holders who’re prone to dropping their protections and dealing with uncertainty,” mentioned Jose Palma, Coordinator of the Nationwide TPS Alliance. “The termination of TPS for Venezuelan and Haitian communities shouldn’t be solely illegal but in addition deeply dangerous to households who’ve sought refuge from unimaginable hazard.
“We’ll proceed to battle this unjust choice in court docket and make sure that TPS holders usually are not stripped of their rights, work, and safety,” he added.
Erik Crew, HBA legal professional, mentioned: “We stand with these brave plaintiffs who should know that the humanitarian safety granted to them is not going to be stripped away in a matter of days.
“We’ll preserve preventing to defend Venezuelan TPS holders, in addition to Haitian TPS holders who’ve been focused with the identical lawlessness, and the TPS program as an entire,” Crew added.
Jessica Bansal, legal professional on the Nationwide Day Laborer Organizing Community (NDLON), mentioned, “DHS’ try to strip humanitarian protections from a whole lot of 1000’s of Venezuelan migrants is unprecedented and unlawful.
“We’re searching for emergency aid from the Courtroom to forestall the irreparable hurt immigrant households will endure if DHS’ illegal choice is allowed to take impact subsequent week,” she mentioned.
HBA has “unequivocally” condemned Trump’s choice to terminate the authorized standing of greater than 500,000 Haitian, Cuban, Venezuelan, and Nicaraguan migrants admitted underneath the Biden administration’s humanitarian parole program, popularly referred to as the CHNV program.
On Friday, the US Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) mentioned that it’s going to formally finish this system on April 24, 2025, giving the migrants a few month earlier than they face deportation.
“This isn’t coverage—it’s premeditated cruelty, rooted in white supremacy, anti-Blackness, and xenophobia,” Guerline Jozef, govt director of Haitian Bridge Alliance, advised the Caribbean Life over the weekend.
She famous that the CHNV program, initiated in 2023, was designed “to supply momentary haven to migrants fleeing authoritarian regimes, financial collapse, and political violence—situations typically worsened by US interventionism and neoliberal insurance policies.”
As of February 2025, Jozef had accredited over 500,000 nationals from Haiti, Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua underneath this authorized pathway.
“The revocation of their standing shouldn’t be solely a direct assault on immigrant households however a transparent sign that the Trump administration is doubling down on authoritarianism and ethnic cleaning,” she mentioned, stating that, throughout his marketing campaign, Trump referred to those migrants as “poisoning the blood of our nation’—language that echoes Twentieth-century fascist regimes.
“Let’s be clear: it is a warfare on poor, Black and Brown individuals who dared to hunt security,” Jozef added. “These households have adopted the foundations. Now, they’re being advised they’re not welcome as a result of Trump desires to rally his base with racist fear-mongering.
“We remind the general public that the CHNV program has been life-saving,” she continued. “Practically all of its beneficiaries had been vetted, sponsored, and admitted legally.”
Jozef mentioned terminating this program is “not simply an immigration rollback—it’s an orchestrated effort to unleash ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement company), tear aside households, and criminalize the very existence of individuals of colour on US soil, according to the company of Venture 2025 (the Conservative coverage agenda).”
Josef, due to this fact, referred to as on Democrats and Republicans to “publicly denounce this transfer, defend the CHNV program, and take legislative motion to guard these in danger.
“Silence is complicity,” she declared.
Trump’s order applies to about 532,000 nationals from Haiti, Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua who migrated to the US in October 2022.
Noem mentioned on Friday that these immigrants will lose their authorized standing on April 24, or 30 days after the order is revealed within the Federal Register.
“To effectuate their immediate removing, the US authorities could, in its discretion, provoke expedited removing proceedings the place applicable,” the DHS warned.
Final week, Caribbean-American Democratic U.S. Rep. Yvette D. Clarke, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, joined U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, 62 of their colleagues within the US Home of Representatives and 23 of their colleagues within the Senate in main a letter to Noem demanding the Trump administration redesignate and prolong Momentary Protected Standing (TPS) for Haiti.
Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants and consultant of the ninth Congressional District in Brooklyn, New York, advised Caribbean Life that the Trump administration just lately canceled TPS for Haiti “on questionable authorized authority.”
Within the letter, the lawmakers wrote that the July 1, 2024, Federal Register discover extending Haiti’s TPS cited “grave insecurity, gang violence, socio-economic collapse, and environmental disasters as an ongoing disaster warranting safety.”
“Nonetheless, your February 2025 discover asserts that the 18-month interval lacked justification,“ they mentioned. “This choice ignores the overwhelming proof that Haiti stays an unsafe place for anybody to return to.
“The choice to rescind Haiti’s TPS designation shouldn’t be a considerate coverage in the very best curiosity of america,“ mentioned the legislators, stating that, throughout his 2024 presidential marketing campaign, “Donald Trump explicitly singled out Haitian TPS recipients in rallies and interviews.
“This rhetoric mirrored his 2017 termination of Haiti’s TPS designation, which a federal court docket blocked for violating the Administrative Process Act and failing to think about nation situations,“ they mentioned. “The administration’s present vacatur revives this legally doubtful playbook, searching for to destabilize the lives of Haitian immigrants by means of shortened protections and heightened uncertainty.”
The legislators requested that Trump prolong and redesignate Haiti for TPS for the statutory most of 18 months.
“Failure to increase and redesignate TPS would violate the INA’s requirement for data-driven selections and abandon over 500,000 Haitians to a warzone the US authorities has explicitly deemed unsafe,“ they warned.
“Congress supposed TPS to be each a humanitarian software and a practical response to unstable situations overseas,“ they added. Whereas DHS has discretion, that authority should be exercised with diligence, transparency, and constancy to the legislation,” they wrote within the letter endorsed by greater than 100 organizations.
On Monday, The Bronx Borough President in New York, Vanessa L. Gibson, the daughter of a Trinidadian father, joined in condemning Trump’s choice to revoke TPS for over half one million Caribbean and others.
She described the motion as “a nefarious try to distract from coverage failures and additional undermine communities of colour.
“Concentrating on our most weak teams is shameful and un-American,“ Gibson advised Caribbean Life. “This destabilizing transfer will make our communities much less secure, no more.
“Our neighbors who hail from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela deserve much better than this, and The Bronx stands united with them and all different immigrant teams which have been focused by this administration,“ she added.
