Trump's week in review: From expanding IVF to calling Zelensky a 'dictator'

5. Ending deportation protection for 500,000 Haitians

In a statement published Thursday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced that it was ending Temporary Protected Status for Haiti on Aug. 3. This development reverses a decision by the Biden administration to extend Haiti's Temporary Protected Status for 18 months.

According to DHS, "TPS is a type of immigration status available to nationals of certain designated countries that allows aliens, even if they entered the country illegally, the ability to reside temporarily in the U.S. The Secretary of Homeland Security is authorized to designate a foreign country for TPS if there is an ongoing armed conflict, an environmental disaster, or extraordinary and temporary conditions."

Haiti has had Temporary Protected Status since 2010, when the country experienced a catastrophic earthquake.

"For decades the TPS system has been exploited and abused," the DHS contends, citing data that found "each extension of the country's TPS designation allowed more Haitian nationals, even those who entered the U.S. illegally, to qualify for legal protected status."

While DHS estimated that 57,000 Haitian nationals qualified for TPS in May 2011, that number increased to 155,000 in August 2021 and 520,694 in July 2024. 

"Biden and [then-Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro] Mayorkas attempted to tie the hands of the Trump administration by extending Haiti's Temporary Protected Status by 18 months — far longer than justified or necessary," said a DHS spokeswoman. "We are returning integrity to the TPS system, which has been abused and exploited by illegal aliens for decades. President Trump and Secretary [of Homeland Security Kristi] Noem are returning TPS to its original status: temporary."