Federal judge blocks Trump administration from ending temporary legal status for many Haitians

NEW YORK AP A federal judge in New York on Tuesday blocked the Trump administration from ending temporary legal status for more than Haitians who are already in the United States District Court Judge Brian M Cogan in New York ruled that moving up the expiration of the temporary protected status or TPS by at least five months for Haitians chosen of whom have lived in the U S for more than a decade is unlawful The Biden administration had extended Haiti s TPS status through at least Feb due to gang violence political unrest a major earthquake in and several other factors according to court documents But last week the Department of Homeland Protection declared it was terminating those legal protections as soon as Sept setting Haitians up for prospective deportation The department declared the conditions in the country had improved and Haitians no longer met the conditions for the temporary legal protections The ruling comes as President Donald Trump works to end protections and programs for immigrants as part of his mass deportations promises The judge s -page opinion states that the Department of Homeland Guard s move to terminate the legal protections early violates the TPS statute that requires a certain amount of notice before reconsidering a designation When the Executive confers a benefit over a fixed period of time a beneficiary can reasonably expect to receive that benefit at least until the end of that fixed period according to the ruling The judge also referenced the fact that the plaintiffs have started jobs enrolled in schools and begun receiving therapeutic healing with the expectations that the country s TPS designation would run through the end of the year Manny Pastreich president of the Function Employees International Union Local BJ which filed the lawsuit described the ruling as an key step but disclosed the fight is not over We will keep fighting to make sure this decision is upheld Pastreich stated in a message We will keep fighting for the rights of our members and all immigrants against the Trump Administration in the streets in the workplace and in the courts as well And when we fight we win DHS did not straightaway respond to an email from The Associated Press requesting comment But the authorities had argued that TPS is a temporary initiative and thus the termination of a country s TPS designation is a possibility beneficiaries must constantly expect Haiti s TPS status was initially activated in after the catastrophic earthquake and has been extended multiple times according to the lawsuit Gang violence has displaced million people across Haiti as the local executive and international public struggle with the spiraling situation according to a description from the International Organization for Migration There has been a increase in displaced people since December with gunmen having chased of Haiti s nearly million inhabitants from their home the summary revealed In May the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to strip Temporary Protected Status from Venezuelans potentially exposing them to deportation The order put on hold a ruling from a federal judge in San Francisco that kept the legal protections in place The judge s decision in New York also comes on the heels of the Trump administration revoking legal protections for thousands of Haitians who arrived legally in the U S through a humanitarian parole effort