Immigrants in the United States with temporary protected status (TPS) should apply for permanent residency or leave the country, said Markwayne Mullin, Secretary of Homeland Security, following last week’s Supreme Court decision that removed humanitarian protections for hundreds of thousands of migrants.
“Either try to complete the paperwork and stay here with permanent status, or we will help you return to your home country,” Mullin said.
“In fact, we will give you a plane ticket, plus approximately $2,100 to help you resettle when you arrive there. But temporary protected status, as the courts and the name itself indicate, is not a permanent status,” he added.
Federal law allows the government to grant temporary legal residency to people fleeing war, disasters, or other conditions.
The status had previously been repeatedly renewed, and despite moves to end these protections, the State Department currently warns against travel to Haiti or Syria, citing widespread violence, crime, terrorism, and kidnappings.
The United States first granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Haitians after the devastating 2010 earthquake and to Syrians after the country descended into civil war in 2012.
The Supreme Court’s decision is expected to affect around 350,000 Haitian migrants and 6,000 Syrians, who now face detention and deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as protections expire.
TPS holders and advocates in Haiti have widely condemned the ruling, warning it will disrupt the lives of thousands who have lived and worked in the US for decades.
Haitian residents in Springfield, Ohio, have expressed despair over the expected consequences of losing TPS protections. During the 2024 election cycle, Trump falsely accused Haitians in the city of eating other people’s pets. The repeated claims led to bomb threats and marches by white supremacist groups in the city.
However, the conservative majority of the Supreme Court ruled that Haitians suing the administration were unlikely to succeed in their claim that the policy was racially biased.
Several Republican officials have also criticized the decision. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine called it a “mistake,” noting that Haiti is facing severe instability, with armed gangs controlling large parts of the country and the government barely functioning.
Other Republicans, including Representatives Mike Lawler of New York and Don Bacon of Nebraska, have also urged an extension of TPS for Haitian migrants.
In total, 1.7 million people from 17 countries currently hold Temporary Protected Status. Immigration advocates warn the administration may further target the program, potentially ending it altogether.
