Key West’s Haitian community breathed a tentative sigh of relief on Feb. 2, when a federal judge in Washington, D.C. temporarily blocked the Trump administration and federal officials from canceling protection for Haitian immigrants and deporting them back to a country that the U.S. Department of State deems too dangerous to visit.
The reprieve leaves the estimated 330,000 Haitians in the United States under temporary protection status (TPS) living fear and legal limbo, as officials from the Department of Homeland Security have pledged to appeal the judge’s ruling and seek Supreme Court permission to deport them.
“Supreme Court, here we come. This is lawless activism that we will be vindicated on,” Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said. “Haiti’s TPS was granted following an earthquake that took place over 15 years ago, it was never intended to be a de facto amnesty program, yet that’s how previous administrations have used it for decades.”
Local Haitians affected
In Key West, anecdotal reports have indicated a high absentee rate among Haitian students in Key West schools for the past 10 days, as families feared immigration agents would follow their children or the school bus to their homes. Other parents worry they could be detained while their children are in school, and they wouldn’t have a way to reach them.
The Keys Weekly has requested absentee figures for January and February for the past three years to compare those numbers to the current immigration-related absenteeism.
Monroe County school officials said they are working on compiling those figures, and will issue an official statement in response to Haitians’ status in the coming day or so. Stay tuned to keysweeky.com for updates.
Local business owners also worry about their Haitian staff members, who are a crucial part of the Keys workforce, particularly in hotels, restaurants and health care. Some business owners have been contacting state and federal legislators to express support for an extension of TPS for Haitian immigrants.
Temporary protected status, or TPS, allows immigrants from designated countries to live and work lawfully, but temporarily, in the United States. It does not include a path to citizenship or a green card, and when TPS ends, immigrants from those countries are subject to deportation. The designation is granted to immigrants from countries facing civil war, natural disasters, political violence or other circumstances that would make it dangerous to return to the country.
In July 2025, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem “determined that there are no extraordinary and temporary conditions in Haiti that prevent Haitian nationals from returning in safety,” states an official notice filed in the Federal Register. “Moreover, even if the department found that there existed conditions that were extraordinary and temporary that prevented Haitian nationals from returning in safety, termination of Temporary Protected Status of Haiti is still required because it is contrary to the national interest of the United States to permit Haitian nationals to remain temporarily in the United States.”
Noem’s decision to end Haitian TPS occurred the same month that another federal agency issued a travel advisory for Haiti and warned Americans not to travel there.
“Do not travel to Haiti for any reason … due to kidnapping, crime, terrorist activity, civil unrest and limited health care. … Mob killings and public assaults are on the rise. … Violent crime is rampant in Haiti. … The expansion of gang, organized crime and terrorist activity has led to widespread violence, kidnappings and sexual assault. … There is a substantial risk of being struck by stray bullets. … There is a risk of terrorist violence. … There are gangs that are designated as terrorist organizations present in Haiti,” said the U.S. Department of State in July 2025.
The same advisory urged Americans who must travel to Haiti: “Draft a will and put your financial affairs in order. Discuss a plan for care and custody of children and pets. Leave DNA samples with your doctor so your family can identify your remains. Establish a proof-of-life protocol with questions (and answers) to ask hostage takers.”
Judge grants reprieve
On Feb. 2, one day before TPS was set to end for Haitian immigrants, U.S. District Court Judge Ana Reyes indefinitely paused the planned termination. Her order bars the federal government from arresting and deporting Haitians with TPS designation. The judge also ruled that the federal government cannot revoke work permits of Haitian immigrants.
Reyes’ order calls Noem’s decision to end Haitian TPS “arbitrary and capricious,” and in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act (APA), as Noem and her department failed to consider “overwhelming evidence of present danger” in Haiti, which has been devastated by earthquakes, hurricanes, gang violence, political instability and widespread poverty.
Reyes also wrote that Noem’s decision was “in part” based on “racial animus.” Her order cites disparaging and discriminatory remarks that Noem and President Donald Trump have made about Haiti and immigrants.
“Kristi Noem has a First Amendment right to call immigrants killers, leeches, entitlement junkies, and any other inapt name she wants,” Reyes wrote. “Secretary Noem, however, is constrained by both our Constitution and the APA to apply faithfully the facts to the law in implementing the TPS program. The record to date shows she has yet to do that,” adding that it “seems substantially likely” that the decision to end TPS stemmed from “hostility to nonwhite immigrants.”
