U.S. RESPONSE TO HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN HAITI
Many Haitians fled to the United States following the catastrophic 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck near Port-au-Prince in January 2010 and displaced nearly 2.3 million people. Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians was intended as a temporary humanitarian response to the disaster, but the conditions that prompted protection have evolved into a prolonged crisis.
After the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse in 2021, mass waves of Haitians sought asylum in the United States. Now powerful armed gangs control an estimated
90 percent of Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, and continue to expand their influence throughout the country. Thousands of people have been killed, while kidnappings, sexual violence and the forced recruitment of children by criminal groups have become increasingly common.
The Biden administration recognized these ongoing humanitarian challenges and expanded several forms of protection for Haitians, including TPS, temporary suspensions of deportations, humanitarian parole and the Haitian Family Reunification Parole Program. These timely policies meant survival for approximately 330,000 Haitians living in the United States.
U.S. PROTECTIONS END
In March 2025, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced the termination of humanitarian parole programs. The U.S. government also terminated TPS for several countries, most notably Haiti and Syria. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in June this year to uphold that order allows the federal government to move forward with terminating TPS, ultimately leading to deportation. Haitian Nationals are severely impacted by these immigration program rollbacks.
Both terminations have created uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of Haitian immigrants who have built new lives in the United States over the past 16 years. For many, the court ruling raises fears of family separation. TPS for Haitians ended on July 27, 2026, and they are now on a tight six-month deadline to file for asylum, if they are eligible.
SOAR Legal is working to combat these recent rulings and ensure that every possible legal protection for Haitians in our community has been applied. We held three free clinics for Haitians to determine if they are eligible for pathways to immigration status.
Asylum is a path that is difficult and often unsuccessful for Haitian applicants. In fiscal year 2026, 88 percent of asylum decisions involving Haitian applicants were denials, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University. The average asylum case in immigration court takes about four years to resolve. As a result, roughly 2.3 million immigrants with formal asylum applications are currently awaiting hearings or decisions in immigration court, according to TRAC data.
ONE FAMILY'S STORY
James* is one of the thousands of Haitians waiting in limbo for a decision in immigration court. James has applied for asylum, but he is struggling to keep his job. After applying for asylum, applicants must wait six months to get work authorization, and that authorization is only good for 18 months before it needs to be renewed. Many employers do not want to hire individuals who may lose work authorization for periods of time.
Esther*, James’ wife, was mistakenly ordered to be deported from the United States weeks after U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services approved SOAR Legal’s application for Esther’s green card. SOAR Legal filed an emergency motion in time to convince the immigration judge to reverse his decision and get the deportation charges dropped. However, rulings such as this have led the Haitian community to feel that no one is safe and that nothing about the legal system can be taken for granted.
REASONS FOR HOPE
Despite these challenges, there are still reasons for hope. Every day, we meet Haitian families who continue to work hard, support their loved ones and contribute to their communities, despite the uncertainty surrounding their immigration status.
“The Haitian community has shown remarkable resilience through years of political instability, natural disasters and now changing immigration policies,” says Jennifer Auguste, SOAR’s Haitian legal assistant.
“As a Haitian and an immigrant myself, I find this work deeply meaningful,” she added. “Although my own immigration journey was different, many of my friends, neighbors and members of my community are directly affected by the end of TPS and humanitarian parole protections. Their stories remind me that behind every immigration case is a family striving for safety, stability and the opportunity to build a better future.”
Regardless of the challenges ahead, SOAR Legal’s commitment remains the same: to provide compassionate legal guidance, accurate information, and dedicated advocacy so that every individual has access to a fair and informed legal process.
*Names changed for safety of clients
Written by Kayla Asakawa, a legal and policy assistant at EMO's SOAR Immigration Legal Services. She graduated from Oregon State University in 2023 with a bachelor’s in public health and minor in ethnic studies. Although not an immigrant herself, she has always been passionate about immigrant rights due to her family’s history of internment during World War II.
