The Haitian migrant community is anxiously anticipating becoming the Trump administration’s next target as the president expands the scope of his mass deportation agenda, advocates say.
The lawmakers who have advocated for Haitian migrants at the federal level say those fears are merited.
Despite initially claiming that deportations would be focused on violent criminals, Donald Trump’s crackdown has also impacted legal immigration. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem revoked a Temporary Protected Status designation for more than 300,000 Venezuelans who are fleeing political violence and human rights violations. Come evening of April 7, these migrants will no longer be protected from deportation.
The Biden-Harris administration extended TPS for Haiti until February 2026, citing the “extraordinary” conditions migrants would face if sent back. But not much is stopping Trump from uprooting that decision, lawmakers said.
“In all likelihood, that will be the case,” House Haiti Caucus co-chair and Congressional Black Caucus Chair Yvette Clarke told NOTUS. “Taking their legal status is just part and parcel of what I believe is a racist attack on people of African descent and will certainly fit in with his xenophobic policies around immigration.”
“I would expect nothing that resembles humanitarianism, empathy or even diplomacy when it comes to Haiti’s status,” Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, who also sits on the Haiti caucus, told NOTUS.
Trump has made his intentions clear. Beyond his and Vice President JD Vance’s vilification of Haitians on the campaign trail, Trump said in an October interview with NewsNation that he would revoke their TPS and “bring them back to their country” if elected.
Immigration advocates are worried the new administration will disregard the worsening conditions on the ground in Haiti, as they feel was disregarded with Venezuela. In terminating the 2023 designation of TPS for Venezuela, a DHS statement concluded the country “no longer continues to meet the conditions for the designation” and that it’s “contrary to the national interest” to permit the covered Venezuelans from temporarily remaining in the U.S.
Haiti remains in crisis. The number of children displaced in the country has increased by nearly 50% since September, “now exceeding half a million,” according to a United Nations report. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said last month that gangs in Haiti could completely overrun the island’s capital due to delays in international support for the multinational police force, led by Kenyan officers, working to curb the violence.
Trump’s 90-day pause on foreign aid has also undermined the United States’ commitment to stop the breakdown of Haiti’s capital. Only $1.7 million of the $15 million contribution the U.S. committed to the multinational effort has been spent thus far. But the U.N. reportedly received notification from the U.S. asking for an “immediate stop work order” on the remaining $13.3 million. (A Kenyan official said the freeze shouldn’t impair their ability through September to continue to quell the gang violence, but they hope the mission will soon not have to rely on voluntary contributions from nations.)
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Activists want Congress to step up in the meantime.
“TPS holders are being targeted by policies that undermine our nation’s laws, values of compassion and refuge,” Guerline Jozef, executive director of Haitian Bridge Alliance, said in a statement. “We call on Congress to take immediate action to provide permanent protection for TPS holders and ensure that no family is forced to return to dangerous conditions. In the interim, we call on Congress to use its power to force the administration to rescind its position.”
Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, co-chair of the Haiti caucus, told NOTUS she and others stand “ready, willing and able” to work with the new administration to look for paths to citizenship for the nearly 500,000 Haitians living under TPS in the U.S.
But she and other lawmakers are already talking to their local Haitian migrants about preparing for the worst.
“We are offering ‘Know Your Rights’ sessions to immigrant communities throughout these districts who are incredibly scared,” Kamlager-Dove said. “We’ve seen a decrease in school and work attendance because they’re concerned about their safety. We’re letting them know what their rights are and what they can do if they are stopped.”
And they have serious doubts that their Republican colleagues will help on a legislative front to address TPS holders.
Those suspicions were confirmed this week when Texas Republican Rep. Brandon Gill called for sitting House Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, a U.S. citizen, to be deported on Tuesday in response to Omar participating in an information session with Somali immigrants should they ever be confronted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Democrats said Gill’s rhetoric will only cause immigrants, regardless of status, to question their place in the country.
“That kind of hateful tone just amplifies the environment that we’re in where so many people who even have their papers and are here legally are afraid because of something as small as their accents,” Cherfilus-McCormick told NOTUS. “People who thought they wouldn’t even be on the chopping block are having major concerns.”
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Calen Razor is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.