The United States will provide Temporary Protected Status (TPS, for its acronym in English) on February 3, 2026 to about 350,000 Haitians. The Donald Trump administration justified this measure despite the severe deterioration of the humanitarian crisis in the Caribbean country. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ensures that Haiti “does not face exceptional and temporary circumstances” that impede the safe return of its citizens. “Although some conditions in Haiti remain troubling, as acknowledged in the official statement published this month, allowing Haitian citizens to remain temporarily in the United States is contrary to the national interest,” he added.
Ending Haiti’s temporary protection regime — first achieved after the devastating 2010 earthquake and renewed over the years by more natural disasters, escalating violence and institutional breakdown in the country — threatens to return hundreds of thousands of people to a country experiencing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. The announcement is the latest in a long list of humanitarian protection cancellations pushed by Trump since his return to Casablanca.
According to the notice published in the Federal Register, DHS Secretariat Kristi Noem concluded that Haiti “does not meet the legal requirements” to maintain TPS, even while acknowledging that armed gang violence has “swamped” the capital, Puerto Principe, and that political instability continues to spark mass displacement. The agency asserts that there are “suitable areas for return,” a statement that contradicts the latest reports issued by the United Nations and humanitarian organizations on the regional control of gangs and the general deterioration of public services.
More than 5.7 million Haitians, the majority of the population, suffer from severe levels of poverty, according to the World Food Programme. Up to 2.7 million people, or one in four residents, live in neighborhoods controlled by criminal groups. Murders, kidnappings and rapes exceed 4,000 cases this year. About 1.4 million people were displaced within the country. Moreover, the collapse of the health system and the lack of drinking water increase the risk of epidemics, especially among vulnerable children and women.
At the political level, Haiti has not held elections since 2016, and the state structure has practically disintegrated. In the same year, the United States promoted the creation of a 5,500-strong Bandela suppression force at the United Nations, but its deployment remains pending. Moreover, criminal gangs, which had been slow to decline, have expanded their activities.
Despite this scenario, the Department of Homeland Security insists that the temporary presence of Haitians in the United States “results in the incompatibility” of immigration policy with the vision of a “secure, sovereign, and self-sufficient Haiti.” Indeed, in its analysis, the agency cites statements by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, about “emerging signs of hope,” although it neglects his warning against the same intervention regarding the “perfect storm of self-sufficiency” and the overthrow of the Haitian state.
The anniversary announcement comes as a culmination of months of judicial tensions. In mid-2025, a federal judge blocked the previous Trump administration’s attempt to cut off the extension Joe Biden granted to Haitians, ruling that Noem did not follow required due process. Now, the government is ensuring that this review only meets the necessary criteria, although the measure is expected to be appealed in court.
The decision sparked a strong reaction among Haitian activists and organizations in the United States. He asked in statements to: “If Haiti does not deserve a temporary protection system, which country deserves it?” Miami Herald Gerlene Joseph, co-founder of the Haiti Bridge Coalition. “Washington knows very well that the situation has not improved, but on the contrary, it has worsened.” Humanitarian associations warn that this measure may lead to a greater crisis if thousands of people are forced to return to a country that does not have the capacity to receive them.
For its part, the administration adopted a tone. “If you are a TPS beneficiary in Haiti, you must prepare to leave the country if you have no other legal basis for remaining,” the DHS notice concludes.