On the same day, Geslain Luma, a 29 -year -old Haitian immigrant, learned that he was granted temporary protected status to remain in the United States was the same day that President Donald Trump announced plans to shorten the program.
Discovering his future with “The end of TPS gives me a headache,” Luma said.
For more than 15 years, TPS has allowed thousands of Haitians to legally work in the United States and avoid deportation, while their homeland dealt with political instability, gang violence and economic difficulties.
Since the murder of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021, armed gangs have won control over much of Prince Port-Au, creating a power vacuum that has made the government a challenge and has fed greater violence, lack of housing and hunger. According to the United Nations, more than 5,600 people were killed and 1,400 were kidnapped in gang conflicts last year. Violence has left 1 million homeless people in Haiti, forcing many to improvised shelters and exacerbating the country’s economic challenges.
But with the decision of the Trump administration to finish TPS in August 2025, it is estimated that 500,000 Haitian immigrants living in the United States face an uncertain future, forced to decide whether to stay and fight for legal status or prepare for a return to a country in crisis.
Neither the White House nor the National Security Department responded to a request for comments.
In New York City and its surroundings, where at least 160,000 Haitian people live, the Brooklyn Haitian community has formed deep roots while sharing deportation fears. The Christian Cruzada Evangelical Church in the Flatbush neighborhood has served as a sanctuary for Haitian immigrants for at least five decades, providing a variety of services, which include food pantries, well -being events and legal assistance.
“The community is worried,” said Reverend Samuel Nicolas, the church’s main pastor. “For more than 15 years, these people have built their lives here, believing that TPS would eventually lead to a permanent residence. Now, they are seeing that hope escapes. “
Many fled from the country after a devastating earthquake hit Haiti in 2010, killing more than 200,000 people and leaving an estimate of 1.3 million homeless. Then, people arrived in the United States and gained TPS protection, looking for stability that allowed them to rebuild their lives. But the program was never a permanent solution.
Abigail Desravines, a 35 -year -old Haitian immigrant, arrived in the United States after the earthquake.
“The conditions worsened more and more,” broke out. The family members in the United States “were calling, asking what we were going to do. We told them that we wanted to come here for school because I couldn’t stay in Haiti for school. I lost classmates. There was a lot of loss.”
Desravines said that TPS allowed her and her sister to build a life in the United States, and finally won a green card. Despite the protection he offered, Desravines said that living under TPS still involved obstacles and instability.
“People think that TPS is a free pass, but it is not,” said Desravines. “You have to continue renewing, paying rates and living with the fear that I can end at any time. It is not an easy path. “
In addition to paying fees, some universities require that TPS holders pay the registration “in their pocket as international students,” he said. “Although we live in the United States for years, some universities did not allow us the enrollment of the State.”
The broken parents remained in Haiti while she and her sister lived with an extended family and continued their education. While they adapted to life in the United States, the sisters silently assumed the workloads, studies and uncertainties of immigration, without adding more stress to their parents while trying the sequelae of the earthquake.
“My parents had their own struggles,” he said. “We had the opportunity to come to the United States, and we didn’t want our parents to worry. But it affected us emotionally, and affected our qualifications. ”
The end of the program will create an interruption, since many TPS holders have jobs, attend school and are parts of their communities.
For those who now face the threat of deportation, the possibility of returning to Haiti is discouraging. The country remains full of instability, and Nicolas said he believes that sending people back in these conditions is inhuman.
“Haiti is not in a place where people with TPS or those under humanitarian programs can return,” he said. “Haiti is being invaded by armed groups and infrastructure just works.”
Luma, the new TPS recipient, said he has also requested asylum and has a work permit, which is valid until 2029. However, his legal status is not guaranteed: in 2027, a judge will decide his claim for asylum.
“When you appear before a judge, you never know what decision they will make, so TPS would have been an additional security layer in a difficult situation,” he said. Luma said she was worried about friends and family who trust only in TPS.
“A person with Solo works TPS, buy a car, buy a house and now all his documents will expire,” he said. “They have no choice but to defend itself because there is no way of living without legal documents.”
Many immigrants send money for food, education and medical care to their families in Haiti, Nicolas said. “If they are deported, that financial support will disappear, worsening Haiti’s humanitarian crisis.”
Nicolas said deportations will also have a social and economic impact on the United States.
“Haitians are part of New York fabric,” he said. “Our churches fill, work on jobs that others will not take, contribute to our economy. If TPS ends, it will not be just a Haitian problem, it will be a problem of New York and a national problem. “
Immigrant defense groups are asking for legislative actions to protect TPS holders, pressing a path to residence for those who have lived in the US for years. A group of organizations filed a lawsuit on Monday that sought to block the Trump administration attempt to put the TPS early for Haitians. Nicolas said he hopes that Congress will intervene to provide relief, or that Trump changes his mind.
“I hope our president has a compassionate heart and recognizes that Haiti is not a place that they cannot return to those who these people,” he said. “Where would they go? What infrastructure is in place for them? If we call ourselves a nation based on Christian values, then we must act with compassion. “
