WASHINGTON, CMC – Justice Ana C. Reyes will on Wednesday continue hearing arguments over the decision of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to terminate the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti, stripping lawful status and work authorization for more than 350,000 Haitian immigrants in the United States.
TPS allows immigrants from designated countries to stay in the US for up to 18 months when conditions like armed conflict make it unsafe to return. But the DHS under the Donald Trump administration has voided 12 designations for 11 countries, including Haiti, resulting in lawsuits.
The District of Columbia case is one of multiple legal challenges to DHS’s termination of TPS for Haiti.
Last year, a New York judge blocked the DHS from removing TPS protections early for Haitians in the US. However, the HDS issued a Federal Register notice that it would remove protections when they’re set to expire in February, arguing that conditions in the country had improved enough to warrant their removal.
At the start of the hearing on Tuesday, Justice Reyes questioned lawyers for the government intensely on how Haitian immigrants targeted for removal from the US could safely return to a country deemed unsafe for travel by the government.
She noted that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had identified “immediate security challenges” in the French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries last year.
“Can you explain to me how it’s safe to return to a country or live in a country when it’s not even safe to fly into that country?” the judge noted as she noted that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had prohibited civilian US aircraft from operating in portions of Haitian airspace because of the security forces’ inability to prevent attacks from criminal groups.
The attorney for the Justice Department, Dhruman Sampat, said he wasn’t a foreign policy expert in response to the judge’s query on air travel, as Justice Reyes responded by saying, “I’m just asking as a matter of logic.”
She also questioned why it’s a national interest to remove Haitians, with the government arguing that the secretary has broad discretion to make determinations of the national interest that the courts can’t review.
Justice Reyes asked whether Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem could decide it’s in the national interest to remove Haitians because she “doesn’t like vanilla ice cream,” with Sampat responding by saying it could be a possible economic consideration for a decision.
“Listen to yourself. I understand you’re in a tough spot, but take a breath and listen to yourself,” Justice Reyes said, noting before adjourning that her critiques of government attorneys have generated significant press coverage.
She added that counsel for DHS had done an “excellent job” in the hearing that is continuing on Wednesday.
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