A joint report published Thursday by Human Rights Watch and Miami-based Sant La Haitian Neighborhood Center warns that the end of Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for hundreds of thousands of Haitian immigrants will trigger widespread family separation, devastating economic losses, and potential deportations to a nation currently engulfed in unprecedented violence.
“Without TPS protections, Haitians risk being sent back to one of the world’s most devastating human rights crises,” said Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at Human Rights Watch, in a statement. “Congress should act swiftly to preserve TPS protections for Haitians and prevent that from happening.”
The two organization interviewed 40 Haitian TPS holders and more than a dozen community groups to assemble the report.
The report comes only a week after a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Trump administration can terminate TPS for about 330,000 Haitian nationals. The ruling also named about 6,000 Syrian TPS holders.
The ruling has sparked a wave of panic through South Florida’s. The region is home to the nation's largest Haitian community and an estimated 158,000 TPS holders.
Roots of TPS
TPS was created by Congress in 1990 to prevent deportations to countries suffering from natural disasters, civil strife and other instability. It allows people already in the country to stay with work permits in increments of up to 18 months, but it does not provide a path to citizenship.
READ MORE: ‘Devastating consequences’: Haitian community, supporters sound alarm after Supreme Court TPS Ruling
Haitians were first granted TPS in 2010 after a catastrophic earthquake and extended them multiple times amid ongoing gang violence that has displaced more than a million people, according to court documents.
The Biden administration roughly doubled the number of people covered by TPS. The program currently protects a total of 1.3 million people from 17 countries.
The Trump administration ended those protections, insisting it was meant to be temporary, declaring most countries as safe.
Immigration attorneys for the plaintiff countered that most countries of TPS holders, especially Haiti, remain unsafe to return.
Indeed, in Haiti, criminal groups now control roughly 90 percent of the capital, Port-au-Prince, with over 8,200 people killed between January 2025 and March 2026.
For those facing deportation from the U.S., the fears are acutely personal.
'Like a death sentence'
“Losing TPS would be like a death sentence,” a 28-year-old Haitian man told researchers, explaining that deportees are frequently targeted by gangs under the assumption that they have money. “They will try to extort or kidnap me. And because I have no money or savings to pay, they will kill me.”
Another 28-year-old certified nursing assistant recounted fleeing to the U.S. after gang members killed her father and assaulted her and her sister. “It was the only way to survive,” she said.
The looming termination also threatens a severe economic shock to Florida, where Haitian TPS holders contribute an estimated $2.6 billion annually to the state economy, primarily within the health care, construction, and hospitality sectors.
Haitian community advocates warn that the loss of work authorizations will quickly ripple through local neighborhoods.
“Without the ability to work, people will struggle to feed their families and keep a roof over their heads,” said Thamara Labrousse, executive director of Sant La. “Some may end up homeless, creating a humanitarian crisis for Haitians in the United States.”
The crisis has sparked a flurry of legislative proposals. While the House passed a bill in April to extend Haitian TPS until 2029, the legislation is languishing in the Senate.
South Florida lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami Gardens, and U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, have also introduced legislation to halt deportations and allow for judicial reviews of TPS terminations.
Human Rights Watch documented numerous cases of TPS holders losing jobs due to employer confusion over expired work permits.
One 25-year-old caregiver who lost her job in February noted, “It will get even worse if they take away my work permit, because then no one will hire me. I don’t know how I will survive.”
