Attorney General James Defends Temporary Protected Status for Haitian and Venezuelan Immigrants

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today co-led a coalition of 18 other attorneys general in opposing the Trump administration’s unlawful and baseless attempt to strip Temporary Protected Status (TPS) from Haitian and Venezuelan immigrants. TPS is a critical humanitarian program that protects individuals from being returned to countries that have been deemed unsafe due to ongoing armed conflict, environmental disaster, or other extraordinary conditions that prevent their safe return. In an amicus brief filed today in Haitian-Americans United v. Trump, Attorney General James and the coalition highlight the devastating economic, social, and humanitarian consequences of ending these TPS protections and urge the court to block the proposed actions.

“New York is home to thousands of hardworking Haitian and Venezuelan immigrants who are members of our communities, our culture, and our economy,” said Attorney General James. “Stripping these individuals of their legal status will not make our communities safer or stronger, it will only put immigrants and their families in harm’s way. I urge the court to block this unlawful action and uphold these potentially life-saving legal protections.”

Despite ongoing humanitarian crises in both Haiti and Venezuela, the Trump administration has taken actions that would terminate TPS protections for Haitians and Venezuelans who were provided the opportunity to apply for that legal status in 2010 for Haiti and 2021 for Venezuela. These terminations would decrease the amount of time Haitian and Venezuelan TPS holders are allowed to stay in the U.S. with work authorization and subject them to the risk of deportation.

Attorney General James and the coalition allege that the Trump administration’s changes to TPS were made without regard for the perilous conditions in both Haiti and Venezuela and, if allowed to take effect, would upend the lives of hundreds of thousands of TPS holders and their families. Haiti remains in a state of political instability, with rampant gang violence, economic collapse, and a breakdown of government institutions. Similarly, Venezuela continues to experience a humanitarian emergency, marked by extreme poverty, food and medical shortages, and political repression. Despite these dire conditions, the Trump administration moved to end protections for TPS holders, jeopardizing the safety of countless individuals.

In addition to the humanitarian impact, the attorneys general argue terminating TPS would disrupt local economies and strain state resources in multiple states, including New York. Haitian and Venezuelan TPS holders are critical members of the workforce, filling essential roles in healthcare, education, construction, and other industries. Many are homeowners and business owners who contribute billions to the economy through wages and taxes.

New York is home to approximately 56,800 TPS holders. More than 5,400 Haitian TPS holders live in New York City alone. In 2023, New York TPS households earned $2.3 billion in income, paid $348.9 million in federal taxes, $305.5 million in state and local taxes, and contributed $1.6 billion in spending power.

Attorney General James and the coalition further argue that families of Haitian and Venezuelan TPS holders will be harmed if changes to the program are not postponed. In 2022, approximately 141,000 U.S. citizen children and 196,000 U.S. citizen adults lived with a Haitian or Venezuelan TPS holder. Thus, over 330,000 U.S. citizens lived in “mixed status” households with loved ones who the administration now seeks to strip of their legal status. This figure does not account for the hundreds of thousands of Haitians and Venezuelans who were newly eligible under the 2023 and 2024 designations. The attorneys general argue that terminating TPS would create serious hardship for these households, withdrawing their members’ work authorization and exposing them to the threat of deportation. It would also force TPS-holder parents to make the agonizing choice between:

• Returning to their country of origin alone, leaving their children behind in broken families and the foster care system;
• Taking their family members, some of whom are American citizens, with them to a dangerous country that they do not know; or
• Staying in the United States and retreating into the shadows, knowing that they cannot work legally and could be ripped from their families at any time.

In the brief, the attorneys general highlight that when former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Mayorkas extended Venezuela’s TPS designation in January of this year, he cited 52 sources indicating that Venezuela remained in a state of “severe humanitarian emergency.” A month later, when current DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced the termination of Venezuela’s TPS designation, she did not cite a single source, baselessly claiming there have been “notable improvements in several areas” in Venezuela. When announcing the plan to vacate Haiti’s TPS designation, Secretary Noem did not even attempt to argue that Haiti’s conditions had improved, but instead speculated that recent developments “might result in an improvement in conditions.” The coalition also notes that both Haiti and Venezuela remain on the U.S. Department of State’s list of “Level 4: Do Not Travel” countries due to the ongoing conditions in each nation.

Joining Attorney General James in filing the brief are the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai'i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.