U.S COMMITTEE FOR REFUGEES AND IMMIGRANTS
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U.S. Terminates Protections for Haitians Despite Deteriorating Conditions

July 1, 2025

On June 27, 2025, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti—effective September 2, 2025—stripping Haitian nationals in the United States of legal protections and work authorization. This deeply troubling decision puts more than 500,000 Haitian community members at risk of deportation to a country in the midst of a humanitarian crisis—plagued by armed conflict, mass displacement, and systemic collapse.

More than 1 million people are internally displaced in Haiti—over half of them children—and an estimated 6 million people require humanitarian assistance. While the Administration claims Haiti is now “safe” for return, the U.S. Department of State maintains a “Level 4: Do Not Travel” advisory for Haiti, and United Nations (UN) agencies and partners have repeatedly warned of a nation on the brink.

In June alone, top UN officials issued a series of urgent alerts about conditions in Haiti. On June 4, the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict warned that women and girls are increasingly targeted by sexual violence, kidnappings, and killings during gang attacks. On June 11, the Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) described the suffering in Haiti as “immeasurable,” especially for  “children, mothers, [and] the elderly, many of them forced to flee their homes multiple times, often with nothing, and now living in conditions that are neither safe nor sustainable.”

Further underscoring the crisis, the June 2025 Hunger Hotspots report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP) designated Haiti at “the highest concern level,” warning of “catastrophic” food insecurity, fueled by gang violence and obstruction of humanitarian operations. More than one million children, are now facing critical levels of food insecurity.

Despite these well-documented realities, the Administration has chosen to end protections for Haitians who sought refuge in the United States, contributed to the American economy, and strengthened our communities. The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) urges the Administration to reverse this decision—one that threatens to deepen instability in Haiti and cause irreparable harm to families both there and here.

USCRI, founded in 1911, is a non-governmental, not-for-profit international organization committed to working on behalf of refugees and immigrants and their transition to a dignified life.

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