Amid a political and humanitarian crisis so severe that the word “catastrophic” no longer seems enough, 2025 in Haiti was also marked by deportations. Last year, nearly 270,000 citizens were sent back to Haiti after being expelled from neighboring Dominican Republic. Now, the Caribbean nation is once again holding its breath at the possibility of a similar wave of returns — this time involving migrants expelled en masse by the Donald Trump administration.
The future of more than 300,000 Haitians who live and work in the United States under the protection of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) will be decided by a federal appeals court sometime after this Thursday, when the deadline for submitting arguments expires and the three‑judge panel begins deliberations.
Originally, Haiti’s TPS — a special residency permit granted to citizens of countries that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) deems unsafe for return — was set to end on February 3. The protection, in place since the 2010 earthquake that devastated the Caribbean nation, was blocked on February 2 by a district judge. The Trump administration, which over the past year has ended TPS for nearly every country that previously held this protection — creating more than a million and a half new undocumented immigrants — appealed the decision, both before Judge Ana Reyes, who has received death threats following her ruling, and before the appeals court. Depending on the panel’s decision, the case could still reach the Supreme Court.