‘Going back is practically death’: Haitian immigrants fear Trump’s efforts to send them back to a country in crisis

Titi, who asked to be identified only by a pseudonym out of fear of being targeted by immigration authorities, came to the United States with her younger sister in 2024 after fleeing widespread gang violence in Haiti that made even routine activities, such as walking to a supermarket, dangerous.

The sisters entered the US using the CBP One app — a system launched in 2020 designed primarily for commercial truck drivers and other industry users and expanded in 2023 to allow asylum seekers to schedule appointments at the southern border before entering the country.

In November 2024, Titi and her sister applied for additional relief under Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which has allowed Haitian immigrants to live and work in the US since a massive earthquake struck Haiti in 2010. Titi said they are still awaiting a decision.

President Donald Trump’s administration has since revoked the legal status of migrants who entered the country through CBP One, The Associated Press reported in April.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has sought to terminate TPS for Haitians on August 3, with an effective date of September 2.

“This decision restores integrity in our immigration system and ensures that Temporary Protected Status is actually temporary,” a DHS spokesperson said in June. “The environmental situation in Haiti has improved enough that it is safe for Haitian citizens to return home.”

The Trump administration’s efforts to end TPS for Haitian immigrants have left Titi and hundreds of thousands of others worried they may be forced to return to a country that isn’t safe.

“There is no safety and security in Haiti right now,” Titi told CNN in her native Creole through a translator. “Instead, I would say that the situation has gotten worse since I left.”

Earlier this month, a federal judge in Brooklyn blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to rescind former President Joe Biden’s 18-month extension of Haiti’s TPS designation, which is set to end on February 3, 2026.

 

The federal judge ruled Noem “does not have statutory or inherent authority to partially vacate a country’s TPS designation.”

The legal fight over TPS comes as the Trump administration intensifies its crackdown on undocumented immigrants, conducting mass deportations and Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids across the country, including in farming fields and courthouses.

The administration has also moved to restrict other protections. CNN reported last month that Trump planned to dismiss asylum claims for hundreds of thousands of immigrants, making them deportable. The Justice Department has also called for the denaturalization of legal immigrants who commit violent crimes or “pose a potential danger to national security.”

‘We are not out of the woods’

Haitian immigrant advocates welcomed the judge’s ruling blocking the early end to TPS, but say they expect the administration to appeal.

“We are not out of the woods,” said Guerline Jozef, executive director of the nonprofit Haitian Bridge Alliance. “We are not comfortable because we know of that possibility.”

Jozef said more than 500,000 Haitian immigrants are currently living in the US under TPS, and forcing their return to Haiti would put them in grave danger, as much of the country is controlled by armed militias. Gangs have seized at least 85% of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince.

More than 5,600 people were killed in Haiti in 2024, and one million were left homeless because of the gang violence, according to The Associated Press.

“The risk of going back is practically death,” Jozef said.

 

She believes the Trump administration’s move to deport Haitian immigrants, despite listing the country under a Level 4 travel advisory, is a “policy that is rooted in anti-Black racism and cruelty.”

This is a “ridiculous and false claim,” said Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, adding it “demonstrates a lack of even the most basic understanding of Temporary Protected Status – which is by definition, temporary.”

Jackson said in a statement to CNN the 2010 earthquake, which allowed Haitians to receive TPS in the US, “no longer poses a risk” to them. Haitian nationals, she said, can pursue legal status through other channels, such as asylum, if they are eligible.

“President Trump is keeping his promise to restore sanity to our immigration system and end the Biden Administration’s exploitation of these temporary programs to encourage more illegal immigration,” Jackson said.

Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the DHS, said Haiti’s TPS “was never intended to be a de facto asylum program, yet that’s how previous administrations have used it for decades.”

The Department of State lists kidnapping, crime, terrorist activity, civil unrest and limited health care in Haiti as reasons for the travel advisory. “Either Haiti is safe for everyone or it’s not safe at all,” Jozef said.

Fear grows in Springfield

In Springfield, Ohio — which drew national attention during last year’s presidential campaign when Trump falsely claimed Haitian immigrants were eating pets — anxiety over the potential loss of TPS is widespread.

The community is home to about 15,000 Haitian immigrants, many of whom have TPS, said Carl Ruby, senior pastor of Central Christian Church.

Ruby said thousands of Haitian immigrants moved to Springfield after word spread that it was a welcoming community with housing and jobs for their families. Meat and clothing factories, as well as Amazon fulfillment centers, have been popular employers for Haitian immigrants, local activists say.

Ruby, who advocates for Haitian families, said there is a “sense of limbo” in Springfield’s Haitian community.

“They have bounced back and forth from being terrified to thinking it’s going to be OK,” Ruby told CNN.

Ruby said many Haitian immigrants are scrambling to apply for asylum and set up guardianship for their US-born children in case the parents get deported. Others are considering moving to other countries such as Canada.

But returning to Haiti is not a safe option, Ruby said, adding that some families witnessed gruesome murders before fleeing the country. He also noted Haitians with certain chronic health conditions would not have access to life-saving medications in Haiti.

“Many Americans don’t understand how serious the risk is,” Ruby said. “I think there’s a false impression that people come to the US because they want to benefit from our public services, but nothing could be further from the truth. They only came because their lives were in danger.”

Viles Dorsainvil, co-founder and executive director of the Haitian Support Center in Springfield, said his organization helps Haitian immigrants transition into the community by assisting with job searches, housing applications, setting up utilities and providing legal advice.

 

 

Haitian immigrants have made a positive impact on the local economy because most are dedicated workers in essential jobs, he said.

Now, he said, they are living with “fear, anxiety and uncertainty” with ICE raids and arrests occurring across the country and the Trump administration seeks to end TPS early.

If the judge’s ruling on the February end date for TPS stands without a successful appeal, Haitian migrants will have more time to make plans, Dorsainvil said. But if conditions in Haiti don’t improve by next year, many immigrants will still face the same risks, he said.

“It should be a suicidal decision to go back to Haiti now,” Dorsainvil said. “People living in Haiti now, they are not at peace.”

‘No escape plan’

Meanwhile, Titi says she is desperate to stay in the US, which she believes is much safer for raising her unborn child.

Her sister was detained by ICE agents after an immigration court hearing in June and remains in custody, she said.

Titi, who was studying to be a nurse before leaving Haiti, wants to learn English so she can get a job and earn an income in the US.

She believes ICE hasn’t come after her because she is pregnant. Once the baby is born, Titi said she doesn’t know what she will do if there are no protections in place for Haitian immigrants.

“I have no escape plan,” Titi said. “I don’t have anywhere else to go.”