NORTH MIAMI, Fla. — Haitian community leaders in South Florida are reacting with alarm after the federal government announced that Temporary Protected Status for Haitian nationals will end early 2026.
Gepsie Metellus, executive director of Sant La Haitian Neighborhood Center in Miami, said she received the notification this week.
“We were expecting this. No surprise there,” Metellus said. “I was still a little bit shocked that such an announcement would be made, publicized on the eve of Thanksgiving.”
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a federal notice saying Haiti “no longer meets the statutory requirements for Temporary Protected Status,” and that Haitian nationals who have been living in the United States under the program will be required to leave. Federal leaders also said allowing them to remain in the country is “inconsistent with U.S. national interest.”
TPS for Haiti was first granted after the 2010 earthquake and has been repeatedly extended. Many of those covered have spent more than a decade building lives in the United States, Metellus said.
“Many people with TPS who have been in the United States since the Haiti earthquake in 2010 have become homeowners, business owners, have assets,” she said. “We’ve been insisting that parents have a formal guardianship agreement with the individual in whose care they want to leave their children. They need to make sure to take care of those.”
Metellus said Sant La and other community groups have spent months coordinating with organizations in northern and southern Haiti to prepare for those who may return voluntarily or face deportation.
“All of the organizations have networks, partners and collaborators who are in Port-au-Prince and throughout the country,” she said. “It’s time to ensure that we have those quick alliances set.”
Local elected officials also condemned the decision. Miami-Dade County Commissioner Marleine Bastien said she was outraged that the announcement came during the week of Thanksgiving, calling it “cold and heartless.” She urged the Trump administration to reconsider, citing the humanitarian and security challenges facing Haitians who would be forced to return.
Temporary Protected Status for Haitian nationals is set to end Feb. 3.
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