Immigrant rights groups have filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s decision to terminate deportation protections for thousands of Haitian and Venezuelan migrants in the U.S. The legal action, filed on Monday in Boston federal court, is the first of its kind to challenge U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s February 20 decision to accelerate the expiration of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for approximately 521,000 Haitians. This decision will end protections and work permits by August 2025.
TPS, granted to Haiti in 2010 following a devastating earthquake, was extended by the Biden administration last year until February 2026. However, Trump’s decision reverses that extension and moves up the expiration date. Similarly, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) accelerated the end date for TPS for Venezuelans, moving it from October 2026 to as early as April 2, affecting around 348,000 Venezuelans.
The lawsuit, filed by Haitian Americans United, the Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts, and UndocuBlack Network, along with individual Haitian and Venezuelan migrants, argues that the Trump administration lacked the legal authority to revoke an extension already granted under the TPS statute. It further claims that the decision was not based on the necessary legal criteria but on politically motivated and racially biased actions.
The lawsuit also references disparaging statements made by Trump against Haitian and Venezuelan immigrants, including a false claim about Haitians in Springfield, Ohio. According to the lawsuit, these actions violate the equal protection guarantees under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
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