Attorney General James Urges Supreme Court to Uphold Protections for Haitian Immigrants

AG James Leads Coalition Opposing Trump Administration’s Attempt to Terminate Legal Status for 350,000 Haitian Immigrants

March 16, 2026

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today co-led a coalition of 18 other attorneys general in urging the United States Supreme Court to preserve the legal status of hundreds of thousands of Haitian immigrants, including many who have lived and worked in the United States for over a decade. Last week, President Trump asked the Court for a stay that would let his administration end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for more than 350,000 Haitians, after a lower court ruled that the administration had violated the law when it attempted to terminate the critical protections. In an amicus brief filed today, Attorney General James and the coalition argue that terminating TPS for Haitians would jeopardize public health, public safety, and local economies, while upending the lives of countless families and devastating communities across the United States.

“Our nation was founded as a land of opportunity and refuge for those fleeing danger or instability,” said Attorney General James. “Now, the Trump administration seeks to break that promise and send thousands of hardworking immigrants back to a country facing extraordinary violence and instability. Our communities depend on, and are strengthened by, our immigrant neighbors. I am imploring the Supreme Court to do the right thing and protect these families from being needlessly torn apart.”

Following a devastating earthquake in 2010, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) granted TPS to immigrants from Haiti escaping unsafe conditions and political instability. The federal government has extended this protection multiple times since the initial designation, as instability and safety concerns in Haiti have persisted and, in recent years, worsened. Despite the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Haiti, the Trump administration last year moved to end protections for Haitian TPS holders – nearly a quarter of all TPS holders nationwide.

Attorney General James and the coalition argue that eliminating TPS for Haitians would cause chaos for hundreds of thousands of families, including the many U.S. citizens who live with a Haitian family member with TPS. As of 2022, more than 200,000 U.S. citizens, including approximately 87,000 children, were living with a Haitian TPS holder. The attorneys general emphasize that revoking these individuals’ legal status would put countless families in an impossible position. Parents with TPS would be forced to choose between abandoning their children and returning to Haiti alone, taking their families with them to a dangerous and unfamiliar country, or remaining in the United States without legal status and with the constant fear of separation and deportation.

As Attorney General James and the coalition explain in the amicus brief, canceling Haitian TPS holders’ legal status would also harm states’ economies, public health, and public safety. Haitians are critical members of New York’s workforce, filling essential roles in healthcare, education, construction, and other industries. At least 56,000 Haitian New Yorkers currently have TPS; terminating their legal status would jeopardize their work permits, harming local economies and making it harder for families to make ends meet. Haitian TPS holders pay over $140 million annually in New York state and local taxes and contribute over $800 million to the state’s economy.

Ending work authorizations would also deprive many families of employer-sponsored health insurance, making it harder for vulnerable people to access care and increasing public health risks. Without legal status, Haitian immigrants and their loved ones may also be less likely to seek treatment at hospitals and clinics, report crimes, serve as witnesses, or otherwise interact with law enforcement.

Attorney General James and the coalition are urging the Supreme Court to protect immigrants and communities nationwide by leaving in place the lower court order that prevents the administration from terminating TPS for more than 350,000 Haitians.

Joining Attorney General James in submitting this brief are the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia.

Attorney General James has consistently taken action to protect immigrants with TPS from the Trump administration’s attempts to unlawfully strip them of their legal status. Last month, Attorney General James co-led 17 other attorneys general in a similar amicus brief urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to protect TPS for Haitians. In November 2025, Attorney General James led 15 other attorneys general in filing an amicus brief to defend TPS for Haitian and Venezuelan immigrants. In September 2025, Attorney General James co-led a coalition of 18 other attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia defending TPS for Haitian immigrants. In July 2025, Attorney General James co-led a coalition of 14 other attorneys general in filing an amicus brief defending TPS for immigrants from Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal.