WASHINGTON: The Trump administration canceled on Thursday an extension of Temporary Protected Status that was granted to more than 500,000 Haitians by former president Joe Biden.
The United States grants Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to foreign citizens who cannot safely return home because of war, natural disasters or other “extraordinary” conditions.
It had been extended for Haitians by 18 months, to February 2026, by the Biden administration, but will now expire on August 3.
“President Trump and I are returning TPS to its original status: temporary,” Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem said in a department statement.
“This is part of President Trump’s promise to rescind policies that were magnets for illegal immigration and inconsistent with the law,” the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) statement said.
The number of Haitians eligible for protection has skyrocketed from 57,000 in 2011 to 520,694 in 2024, according to the US government’s estimates.
The TPS extension afforded by Biden was “far longer than justified or necessary,” said a DHS spokeswoman.
Trump – who during his election campaign said that immigrants were “poisoning the blood” of the United States – quickly ordered a review of the whole TPS program on returning to office.
During his campaign he made baseless claims that Ohio city had seen a recent influx of Haitian migrants who were stealing and eating residents’ cats and dogs.
“The Trump administration is ripping stability away from half a million Haitians who have built their lives here -children, workers, parents, and neighbors who have become integral to American communities and contributed to our economy,” said Beatriz Lopez, Co-Executive Director of the Immigration Hub, an organization working on advancing policy solutions for aspiring citizens.
“This reckless decision doesn’t just harm them; it destabilizes the very businesses, families, and local economies that rely on them.”
Last month, the Trump administration revoked protection from deportation for more than 600,000 Venezuelans in the United States.
“The people of this country want these dirtbags out. They want their communities to be safe,” Noem said on Fox News in January.
Struck by a devastating earthquake in 2010, Haiti has suffered from chronic political instability for decades and more recently from increasing violence by armed groups.
Despite the election of Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime in November and the deployment of a UN-backed security mission to support Haiti’s national police, violence persists.
At least 5,601 people were killed by gang violence in Haiti in 2024, according to the UN.
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Trump cancels protection for 500,000 Haitian migrants
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Trump cancels protection for 500,000 Haitian migrants
- The number of Haitians eligible for protection has skyrocketed from 57,000 in 2011 to 520,694 in 2024
- Temporary Protected Status extension afforded by Joe Biden was ‘far longer than justified or necessary’
Tornado kills five, injures more than 400 in Brazil
It killed five people and injured 432, the Parana state government said
Winds in Rio Bonito do Iguacu, population 14,000, reached between 180 and 250 kilometers per hour
BRASILIA: A tornado killed at least five people and injured more than 400 as it destroyed most of a town in southern Brazil, authorities said Saturday.
The twister on Friday overturned cars and damaged homes in Rio Bonito do Iguacu, in Parana state, the local weather service reported.
It killed five people and injured 432, the Parana state government said. Two others are missing but this number could rise, it said.
Winds in Rio Bonito do Iguacu, population 14,000, reached between 180 and 250 kilometers per hour (110 and 155 miles per hour), Parana’s environmental technology and monitoring agency said.
Civil Defense officials said 80 percent of the town is now destroyed. Images on social media show homes razed by the violent weather.
“It is a war scene,” Fernando Schunig, head of the Parana Civil Defense agency, told the news outlet G1.
He said the likelihood of more fatalities is high because the twister hit right in the center of the town.
“When these events hit an urban area, the damage is major. It is very lethal,” Schunig said.
The governor of Parana, Ratinho Junior, said on X that “security forces are on alert, mobilized and monitoring the cities affected by the severe storms.”
An alert for dangerous storms was in effect for all of Parana as well as the southern states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, according to weather authorities.
Winds in Rio Bonito do Iguacu, population 14,000, reached between 180 and 250 kilometers per hour
BRASILIA: A tornado killed at least five people and injured more than 400 as it destroyed most of a town in southern Brazil, authorities said Saturday.
The twister on Friday overturned cars and damaged homes in Rio Bonito do Iguacu, in Parana state, the local weather service reported.
It killed five people and injured 432, the Parana state government said. Two others are missing but this number could rise, it said.
Winds in Rio Bonito do Iguacu, population 14,000, reached between 180 and 250 kilometers per hour (110 and 155 miles per hour), Parana’s environmental technology and monitoring agency said.
Civil Defense officials said 80 percent of the town is now destroyed. Images on social media show homes razed by the violent weather.
“It is a war scene,” Fernando Schunig, head of the Parana Civil Defense agency, told the news outlet G1.
He said the likelihood of more fatalities is high because the twister hit right in the center of the town.
“When these events hit an urban area, the damage is major. It is very lethal,” Schunig said.
The governor of Parana, Ratinho Junior, said on X that “security forces are on alert, mobilized and monitoring the cities affected by the severe storms.”
An alert for dangerous storms was in effect for all of Parana as well as the southern states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, according to weather authorities.
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