Over the last year, hundreds of thousands of immigrants have seen their lawful status stripped away by the U.S. government.
Now, one of the largest “de-documentation” decisions by the administration will be scrutinized by the nation’s highest court—with Congress expected to weigh in as well.
This month, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments over the planned termination of Temporary Protected Status for Haiti and Syria.
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) provides a lawful status and access to work permits for foreign nationals whose countries are experiencing conflict, disasters, or other extreme conditions that prevent safe and voluntary returns.
Critical humanitarian components of TPS
Haiti was first designated for TPS after the devastating January 2010 earthquake. Syria was first designated for TPS in 2012 during the country’s brutal civil war.
The Haiti TPS designation now provides a lawful status and protections from removal for more than 350,000 people—making it one of the largest TPS designations in the country. Tens of thousands of those have a work permit based off their grant of TPS.
The protections of TPS have remained necessary due to worsening conditions in Haiti including political collapse, widespread gang violence, kidnappings, and a breakdown of essential services and state infrastructure, including food, shelter, water, and health care. Armed gangs now dominate large parts of the capital Port-au-Prince and the surrounding countryside, obstructing access to hospitals, schools, and food supplies, and perpetrating sexual violence as a means to terrorize civilian populations.
While the Syrian TPS designation protects a smaller cohort—about 6,000 Syrians—experts have highlighted that Syria is not yet safe for all returns. The humanitarian situation in Syria remains critical after 14 years of conflict and the decimated infrastructure and economic collapse that has followed. About 15.6 million people remain in need of lifesaving assistance in the country, with continued internal displacements, climate shocks, and sporadic conflict escalations and insecurity making returns unsafe and inappropriate at present.
High court hears case
Since early 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has sought to terminate every TPS designation for every country up for review—from Afghanistan to Yemen.
Judges at both the district court and appellate court levels have paused the Haiti TPS termination from proceeding while a case over the termination is ongoing. Now the government wants to move ahead with terminating TPS for Haiti while the case remains active.
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear oral arguments in the case on TPS for Haiti. For purposes of oral argument, the case has been combined with a separate case over the planned termination of TPS for Syria, which the government also sought last fall before litigation resulted in a stay.
Oral arguments are set for April 29 in Washington, D.C.
House of Representatives to vote on Haiti TPS
Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle have raised concerns about the administration’s campaign to end humanitarian parole and TPS for thousands who fled violence and persecution and sought safety in the United States.
Officials across the country, particularly in Massachusetts and New York with their large Haitian populations, have urged the government to reverse course with its planned termination of TPS for Haiti.
A discharge petition is a legislative tool for members of the U.S. House of Representatives to force a full floor vote on a measure. It is used to circumvent Congressional and committee leadership, and only rarely successful.
After weeks of gathering signatures, the discharge petition on March 27 reached majority-status in the U.S. House of Representatives with 218 members joining. The discharge petition drew bipartisan support, including from Republican Reps. Salazar of Florida, Lawler of New York, Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, and Bacon of Nebraska.
The petition will proceed to a full floor vote in the coming days.
How to weigh in
The Haiti TPS discharge petition is a unique opportunity for all 435 Representatives in the House to weigh in on the record on the administration’s ongoing efforts to terminate lawful status for immigrants.
While this petition would face a difficult road in the U.S. Senate, a successful House vote would be a significant milestone in Congressional pushback to the agenda of de-documentation.
Use our action alert to write to your House member about the critical need for TPS for Haiti.
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