Administration's attempt to prematurely end protective status for Haitian immigrants thwarted by court order
In a significant ruling on July 1, 2025, a Brooklyn-based U.S. District Judge, Brian Cogan, determined that the Trump administration cannot prematurely end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian migrants as planned. The judge's decision blocks Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's attempt to revoke TPS for nearly 350,000 Haitians, preventing the termination that was due to take effect on September 3, 2025.
Judge Cogan found that Secretary Noem "does not have statutory or inherent authority to partially vacate a country's TPS designation," deeming the attempt to end TPS for Haitians unlawful. The judge emphasised that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) failed to follow the timeline and procedures mandated by Congress for reconsidering and terminating TPS.
The court ruling underscores that the DHS cannot partially vacate or arbitrarily end TPS without adhering to a specific timeline and procedural steps. These include studying country conditions, providing notice, and adhering to formal reconsideration rules before ending TPS. The DHS must comply with statutory procedures set by Congress to lawfully terminate TPS. TPS designation can only be terminated if conditions in the designated country improve to the point where continued protection is no longer justified.
The lawsuit, filed in March by nine Haitian TPS holders and advocacy groups, including the Haitian Evangelical Clergy Association and Service Employees International Union 32BJ, argues that the sudden rollback of TPS upends lives and forces families to prepare for deportation prematurely. A related case, Haitian Americans United Inc. v. Trump, is underway in federal court in Massachusetts, raising similar claims.
Judge Cogan's ruling states that the plaintiffs' injuries are actual and imminent, and cannot be remedied by an award of money damages. If the partial vacatur remains in effect until the final resolution of the case, the plaintiffs will lose their right to live and work in the United States based on what the court has found was an unlawful action.
This ruling temporarily preserves TPS protections for Haitian migrants, requiring the administration to properly follow legal protocols before any lawful termination can proceed. The original end date for Haiti's TPS designation was February 3, 2026, but the Trump administration sought to cut it short, first to August 3, then to September 2. However, the court's ruling prevents the government from ending Haiti's TPS designation prematurely, so long as it does not comply with statutory requirements.
[1] https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/01/politics/temporary-protected-status-haiti-lawsuit/index.html [3] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/01/us/politics/temporary-protected-status-haiti-lawsuit.html
The ruling issued by Judge Cogan indicates that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) violated the statutory procedures set by Congress when attempting to terminate TPS for Haitians, acting arbitrarily without adhering to the required timeline and procedural steps. This court decision bars Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem from prematurely ending TPS for Haitian migrants, temporarily preserving their policy-and-legislation protections and general-news rights to live and work in the United States.
