Bush-Appointed Judge Stops Trump Admin From Deporting Haitian Migrants Protected By Biden

A federal judge Tuesday blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to strip hundreds of thousands of Haitian nationals of deportation protection.

U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan — appointed to the bench in New York by President George W. Bush — blocked the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) decision to unwind Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for more than half a million Haitians living in the United States, according to court documents. The Biden administration previously extended TPS for Haiti months before President Donald Trump returned to office.

DHS’ attempt to terminate TPS early violates a statute requiring a certain amount of notice prior to reconsidering a designation, Cogan’s 23-page ruling states.

“When the Government confers a benefit over a fixed period of time, a beneficiary can reasonably expect to receive that benefit at least until the end of that fixed period,” Cogan stated. “Here, too, plaintiffs have evinced a reliance interest in Haiti maintaining its TPS designation until February 3, 2026.”

The Biden administration had previously extended TPS for Haiti until Feb. 3, 2026, but the Trump administration sought to dramatically cut this timeline to Sept. 2, according to court documents. The Haitian Evangelical Clergy Association, the Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ and other plaintiffs sued over the Trump administration’s move.

Created in 1990, TPS is a federal authority that bestows sweeping deportation protections and work eligibility to certain foreign nationals living in the U.S., including illegal migrants, whose home countries are experiencing conflict or devastating natural disasters, making it potentially unsafe for them to go back, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration