ICE To Target Haitians As Their Temporary Protected Status Expires

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are being told to prioritize the arrests of Haitian nationals whose Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in the United States is officially coming to an end.

Haitians have been shielded from deportation and allowed to work in the United States without permanent immigration status through the program for over a decade due to turmoil in their home country. Now, with President Donald Trump back in the White House, roughly 300,000 Haitian migrants are set to lose their protected status on Monday.

One ICE source told The Daily Wire that arrests of Haitians are now being viewed as a “priority” for the agency.

Part of Trump’s plan to deport Haitians losing their TPS includes targeting the large Haitian community in Ohio, according to CBS News. Springfield is one of the small Ohio towns that became overrun by roughly 20,000 Haitian migrants during the Biden administration.

The town became a focal point of then-candidate Donald Trump’s pledge to carry out a mass deportation.

Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP via Getty Images

On the campaign trail, citing unconfirmed reports that Haitian migrants were stealing and eating residents’ pets, Trump vowed to “absolutely” revoke their TPS if re-elected.

Last month, the Supreme Court handed the Trump administration a major victory, opening the door for the termination of TPS for Haitians and Syrians.

The high court rejected claims that the Trump administration’s decision to end TPS for Haitians had racist motivations.

“Citing statements made by President Trump and former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, one set of respondents advances an equal protection claim that Haiti’s TPS designation was terminated because of the racial makeup of that country’s population,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the majority opinion.

“But, ironically, one of respondents’ other arguments undermines the equal protection claim by offering a strong, race-neutral explanation for Haiti’s termination: namely, that the current administration, which has terminated every TPS designation that has come up for renewal, simply opposes the TPS program, at least as it has been implemented in the past,” Alito added.

While the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told CBS News that it “does not discuss ongoing or future operations,” it said that TPS has served as a “de facto amnesty program,” urging migrants losing their protections to self-deport.

“What we would say now is it’s closing time which means you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here,” DHS said. “The good news is it’s not too late to get a $2,600 check and a free flight home.”

Many Haitian migrants who will lose their protections will have the opportunity to appear before an immigration judge, who will have to issue a deportation order for ICE to remove them from the country.