State AGs Oppose Termination of Haiti TPS

Detected February 18th, 2026

Summary

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell co-led a coalition of 18 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief opposing the Trump Administration's effort to terminate Haiti's Temporary Protected Status (TPS). The brief urges the Court of Appeals to affirm a lower court's decision to postpone the termination while litigation continues.

View original document View source feed page

What changed

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, along with 17 other state attorneys general, has filed an amicus brief in the case Miot, et al. v. Trump, et al. before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The brief opposes the federal government's attempt to overturn a lower court's decision that stayed the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian nationals. The filing argues that terminating TPS would have significant negative consequences, including family separation, economic damage, and workforce depletion, and urges the appellate court to deny the government's motion to lift the stay.

This action is part of ongoing litigation concerning the lawfulness of the Trump Administration's decision to end Haiti's TPS designation, which was originally set to expire on February 3, 2026. The amicus brief supports the preservation of TPS for Haitian immigrants who have been eligible since 2010 due to conditions in Haiti. Regulated entities, particularly employers of TPS recipients, should monitor the outcome of this appeal as it directly impacts the immigration status and work authorization of a significant population within the United States. The case highlights the legal challenges to immigration policy changes and the role of state attorneys general in such matters.

Source document (simplified)

This page, AG Campbell Urges Court To Preserve Block On Trump Administration’s Unlawful Termination Of Haiti’s Temporary Protected Status Designation, is offered by
Office of the Attorney General
show more

Allie Zuliani, Deputy Press Secretary

Phone

Call Allie Zuliani, Deputy Press Secretary at (617) 727-2543

Online

Email Allie Zuliani, Deputy Press Secretary at Allie.Zuliani@mass.gov

Boston — Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell today co-led a coalition of 18 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in Miot, et al. v. Trump, et al. in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, opposing the Trump Administration’s effort to overturn a lower court’s decision to postpone the termination of Haiti’s Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation while litigation on the termination continues.

“The District Court rightly halted the Trump Administration’s attempt to strip legal immigration status from hundreds of thousands of hardworking Haitian immigrants in the United States, and I urge the Court of Appeals to affirm that decision,” said AG Campbell. “Haitians are essential to the fabric of our communities, contributing every day as neighbors, workers, caregivers and leaders. I will continue to fight for them and any other immigrant group that this Administration chooses to unlawfully and cruelly target.”

TPS is a humanitarian immigration status created by Congress to protect foreign nationals who cannot safely return to their home country because of war, natural disaster, or other extraordinary conditions. TPS allows recipients to live and work in the United States as long as their home country has a TPS designation. Haitian immigrants have been eligible for TPS since 2010, when a devastating earthquake hit the country. The protections have continuously been extended due to unsafe conditions in Haiti, including widespread violence, homelessness, and starvation.

On November 28, 2025, the Trump Administration provided notice that it would end Haiti’s TPS status, as of February 3, 2026, without any evidence that the dangerous conditions in Haiti had improved and despite the fact that the U.S. State Department continues to classify Haiti as a “Level 4: Do Not Travel” country—its highest risk designation. On February 2, 2026, a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia stayed the Trump Administration’s decision to end Haiti’s TPS, which was set to expire the next day. This order preserved TPS for Haitians while the litigation over the lawfulness of the termination continues. On February 6, 2026, the federal government appealed this order and moved for a stay, asking the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to let them move forward with the termination despite the district court’s ruling.

In their brief, AG Campbell and the coalition urge the Court of Appeals to deny the federal government’s motion for a stay, arguing that terminating Haiti’s TPS status would separate families, damage economies, deplete workforces, increase health care costs, and harm public health and safety. Across states, thousands of TPS recipients provide important public services as health care providers, teachers, entrepreneurs, construction workers, and more. Stripping these individuals of their legal status would force them either to face life in uncertainty and vulnerability without legal protections or to return to a country experiencing exceedingly dangerous conditions.

TPS-eligible Haitians contribute $3.4 billion annually to the U.S. economy. Approximately 69% of Haitian immigrants aged 16 and older were members of the civilian labor force in 2022, with high rates of participation in health care support and service industries. Furthermore, a recent estimate found that 75,000 TPS-eligible Haitians work in labor-short industries.

Massachusetts is home to one of the nation’s largest Haitian populations, including tens of thousands of Haitian TPS holders. Massachusetts’s Department of Developmental Services alone employs dozens of Haitian TPS holders, who provide care to some of Massachusetts’s most vulnerable populations. Stripping TPS recipients of their legal status and work authorization will cause irreparable harm to families, workforces, and state economies.

In submitting their brief, AG Campbell and the coalition are asking the Court to deny the federal government’s motion for a stay and protect the hundreds of thousands of Haitians legally in the United States under the program while the litigation proceeds.

Joining AG Campbell in submitting this brief, which she co-led with the attorneys general of California and New York, are the attorneys general of Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.

Allie Zuliani, Deputy Press Secretary

Phone

Call Allie Zuliani, Deputy Press Secretary at (617) 727-2543

Online

Email Allie Zuliani, Deputy Press Secretary at Allie.Zuliani@mass.gov

Allie Zuliani, Deputy Press Secretary

Phone

Call Allie Zuliani, Deputy Press Secretary at (617) 727-2543

Online

Email Allie Zuliani, Deputy Press Secretary at Allie.Zuliani@mass.gov

Help Us Improve Mass.gov with your feedback

Did you find what you were looking for on this webpage? Yes No If you have any suggestions for the website, please let us know. How can we improve the page? Please do not include personal or contact information. You will not get a response The feedback will only be used for improving the website. If you need assistance, please Contact the Attorney General's Office at (617) 727-2200. Please limit your input to 500 characters.

Please remove any contact information or personal data from your feedback. You will NOT get a response. If you need assistance, please Contact the Attorney General's Office at (617) 727-2200. Please let us know how we can improve this page. Please remove any contact information or personal data from your feedback. You will NOT get a response. If you need assistance, please Contact the Attorney General's Office at (617) 727-2200. Thank you for your website feedback! We will use this information to improve this page.

If you would like to continue helping us improve Mass.gov, join our user panel to test new features for the site.