Supreme Court will hear Haitian TPS case, rejecting Trump’s request for emergency ruling

Haitian TPS holders fighting to keep their legal protections in the United States told the Supreme Court early Monday morning that deporting them now could send them back into a country gripped by extreme violence and instability. Hours later, the justices announced they would hear oral arguments in the ongoing case in April — rejecting the Trump administration’s emergency request last week to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti.

In the early Monday filings, attorneys representing the Haitian TPS holders argued that forcing the estimated 350,000 Haitian immigrants in the program  to return to Haiti could put their lives at risk. Lawyers for the Haitians in Miot v. Trump — the lawsuit filed in 2025 to keep TPS for Haitians in place — say deportations could place TPS holders directly in the path of a humanitarian crisis fueled by gang violence and political collapse. 

They described the country as “a maelstrom of disease, poverty, violence (including sexual violence) and death,” noting that armed gangs now control large parts of Haiti’s capital and had displaced more than 1 million people.

Against that backdrop, the attorneys argue, the government has failed to show any urgent reason to end protections immediately.

“The government identifies no emergency requiring their immediate expulsion,” their March 16 brief states. “Because they are important and complex, the questions presented are best decided in the normal course after the court of appeals has addressed them. 

“The Court should therefore deny the government’s application for certiorari before judgment [and] should deny the government’s application in full.”

Later in the afternoon, the Supreme Court posted an unsigned order saying they would hear the case instead of granting an emergency ruling. They also said they will combine the cases for Haiti TPS and Syria TPS, leaving in places the lower court’s rulings on both cases for now.

The cases will be heard during the second week of the April 2026 argument session, the announcement states. A decision, based on the court’s calendar, will then be issued sometime in May or June.

Hundreds of thousands in limbo

More than 352,000 Haitians currently live and work in the U.S. under TPS protections. The program allows immigrants from countries experiencing disasters or extraordinary crises to remain temporarily in the U.S. and receive work authorization.

Haiti first received TPS in 2010 after a catastrophic earthquake devastated the country and killed more than 200,000 people. The designation has been extended multiple times as Haiti has faced political upheaval, natural disasters and escalating violence from the gangs.

However, in November, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it would end the program February 3, despite the ongoing lawsuit challenging its termination. The lower courts reviewing the case acknowledged those risks, noting the potential for “risk of detention and deportation, separation from family members, and loss of work authorization.” 

A broader legal challenge

Beyond the humanitarian concerns, the respondents argue the government’s decision to terminate Haiti’s TPS designation violated federal law.

Miot v. Trump was filed by five Haitian TPS holders who say DHS failed to follow procedures required by the Administrative Procedure Act when it ended the program.Their attorneys say the agency ignored evidence about Haiti’s current conditions and failed to properly justify its decision. They also dispute the administration’s argument that courts have no authority to review TPS decisions.

“The government’s jurisdictional argument is contrary to both statute and this Court’s precedent,” the respondents wrote.

When the government countersued in Trump v. Miot, a federal judge in Washington sided with the immigrants Feb. 2, blocking the termination of Haiti’s TPS designation one day before it was scheduled to take effect.

The judge concluded that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on several of their claims, including allegations that the government’s decision may have been arbitrary or improperly motivated. In its analysis, the court cited evidence suggesting that the termination could have been influenced by “anti-black and anti-Haitian animus.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit later refused to pause that ruling while the government appeals the case, leaving TPS protections in place for now.

Court rejects administration’s request 

On March 11, the government’s lawyers asked the Supreme Court to intervene on an emergency basis and allow the termination to move forward immediately.

Government lawyers argue that federal law explicitly bars courts from reviewing TPS designation decisions. They said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who has since been fired, determined that Haiti no longer meets the legal requirements for TPS and that continuing the program would be “contrary to the national interest of the United States.”

The administration says lower courts improperly second-guessed an immigration policy decision that Congress placed within the executive branch’s authority.

Lawyers for the Haitians, along with various unions that employ Haitian workers, were joined by other entities, such as New York Attorney General Letitia James, that filed amicus briefs Monday urging the justices to reject the government’s emergency request.

“Our communities depend on, and are strengthened by, our immigrant neighbors,” James said in a news statement announcing her amicus brief. “I am imploring the Supreme Court to do the right thing and protect these families from being needlessly torn apart.” 

For now, the request for an emergency ruling has been rejected. The justices’ order leaves in place rulings by federal judges in New York and Washington, D.C., that had indefinitely postponed the termination of the program for Syrians and Haitians. Attorneys for both sides must now prepare to argue in front of the justices during the Supreme Court’s on their merits during the second week of April, according to the court’s announcement. Decisions will then likely be handed down in June.

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