Trump is using mistaken June SCOTUS ruling to end protected status for Haitian immigrants escaping a humanitarian and political crisis in Haiti; WA is home to about 3,300 Haitians, including a large TPS eligible population in Spokane making meaningful contributions to our community
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) cosponsored a bill that would extend the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian nationals through 2029, as the Trump Administration reportedly ramps up plans to arrest and deport them.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the legality of the Trump Administration’s efforts to terminate TPS status for Haitian nationals. As a result of that decision, the Administration is targeting more than 300,000 Haitian nationals living in the United States by terminating their TPS yesterday, stripping legal protections and work permits for people who have been living, working, and raising families in America for decades.
“The Administration is using the Supreme Court’s mistaken ruling on Temporary Protected Status to strip legal status from thousands of law-abiding Haitians nationwide, including many community members in Spokane. These Haitian immigrants are our neighbors, caregivers, and valued community members who played by the rules, they should not be facing deportation to a country in midst of a humanitarian and political crisis,” Sen. Cantwell said.
TPS is a humanitarian immigration designation that allows nationals of a country experiencing armed conflict, environmental disaster, or other extraordinary conditions to live and work legally in the U.S. without being deported.
Washington state is home to nearly 3,300 people of Haitian ethnicity according to 2020 census data, including a large community of about 500 people in Spokane. Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown has urged the federal government to extend TPS for Haitians. Across Washington state, TPS protects approximately 18,065 people from deportation or removal. Nationwide, 330,735 Haitian nationals and 3,860 Syrian nationals have TPS.
In November 2025, then-Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem issued a decision to terminate Haiti’s TPS designation. Sen. Cantwell joined her Senate Democratic colleagues in sending a letter to Noem demanding that she reverse the directive. In April, Sen. Cantwell also signed an amicus brief challenging the Trump administration’s termination of TPS for immigrants from Haiti and Syria.
The bill to redesignate TPS for Haitians was introduced by U.S. Senators Ed Markey (D-MA) and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE). Including Sen. Cantwell, it has 30 cosponsors in the Senate.