Editor’s Note: The following article was originally published by Juan Villegas from La Talacha on May 4, 2026. If you would like to subscribe to their Substack please click here.
The Trump Administration wants to eliminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for more than 1.2 million people and deport them to the home countries they fled. Among TPS holders, Haitians are the second-largest group, with over 330,000 beneficiaries of this humanitarian policy. The experiences of Haitians speak to an enduring legacy of racism, specifically anti-Black immigration policies by the U.S. that began in the 1790s.
In the Haitian Revolution, from 1791 to 1804, Haiti liberated itself from its French enslavers and became the first independent Black republic in the Western Hemisphere. The revolution’s significance and power were of such magnitude as to help inspire and lay a foundation for other uprisings that aided the independence and abolition of slavery in countries like Mexico and Venezuela. Haiti also collaborated with countries like Mexico to liberate enslaved Africans in Cuba.
To Black people in the U.S., free and enslaved, Haiti was a symbol and inspiration of systemic freedom. But the U.S. government feared that Haitian independence would spread racial freedom and Black citizenship in the hemisphere. In retaliation, the U.S. created its first refugee policy by welcoming French enslavers fleeing Haiti and offering them aid and protected status in 1794. Southern states and the federal government also passed laws forbidding Black people, free or enslaved, to enter the country from at least 1798 to 1861.
Thomas Jefferson, who was then Secretary of State, betrayed his fear of Black citizenship in a 1791 letter, writing that “giving the rights of citizenship to the free people of colour of St. Domingo [Haiti] has thrown that colony into a dangerous fermentation.” From the start of Black independence in Western Hemisphere, powerful whites in the U.S. viewed Black freedom and citizenship as a threat.
Four years before the U.S. Civil War, the Supreme Court ruled that Black people have no constitutional right to sue in court because Black people, free or enslaved, could not be U.S. citizens. The U.S. eventually would give Black people citizenship with the 14th Amendment, but President Abraham Lincoln and his cabinet did not at first intend for Black people to be citizens. In 1862, Lincoln was comfortable with keeping Black people in slavery, writing, “If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it… If I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that.” Even after realizing emancipation was the only viable solution to keeping the Union intact, Lincoln and his cabinet tried to make deportation a condition of freedom. The idea was to deport the entire Black population to Africa, the Caribbean or Latin America. The plan for mass deportation did not flourish after it was determined that it was financially impossible, but it offers historical insight into systemic racism and second-class citizenship that Black people in the U.S. experience. It also illustrates the anti-Black policies targeting Black immigrants, especially Haitians.
Since Haitian independence, the U.S. has played a significant role in the destabilizing conditions that are still causing Haitians to flee their country. Immediately after Haitian Independence, Haiti was held hostage by the French, demanding that the new republic pay the billions of dollars that slavery would have made for the French Empire. The debt took more than 100 years to pay off, leaving Haiti in a constant state of economic vulnerability, hindering its ability to thrive. The U.S. contributed to the crisis by violently invading and occupying Haiti from 1915 to 1934. During this time, the U.S. took over Haiti’s economy, forcing it to pay its debt to France with tactics such as instilling economic policies that favored U.S. interests and stealing the country’s gold reserves. Further harm was caused by the U.S. occupation of the Dominican Republic from 1916 to 1924. It is here that U.S. military officials brought Jim Crow racism and trained soldiers like Rafael Trujillo, future dictator of the Dominican Republic, who would go on to execute tens of thousands of Haitians in less than a week in 1937.
Another significant contribution leading to Haitians fleeing was the U.S.-backed Duvalier regime. It panned two generations, beginning with François Duvalier (1957-1971), followed by his son, Jean-Claude Duvalier, who ruled from 1971 to 1986. Both men were brutal dictators who used state violence to repress, silence and eliminate oppositional forces. Consequently, Haitians began fseeking refuge in the U.S. They were called “boat people,” and laws were made to deter them. Most Haitians’ asylum claims were denied because they were economic refugees rather than political ones. In conjunction with the denials were executive orders and proclamations by U.S. presidents to block Haitian refugees. President Ronald Reagan issued Proclamation 4865, declaring that Haitian refugees are a “serious national problem detrimental to the interests of the United States” and ordering that their boats be intercepted at sea. President George H.W. Bush’s Executive Order 12807 in 1992 also called for the National Guard to intercept and send boats back. President Bill Clinton declared two Proclamations, 6685 and 6569, in 1993, announcing an immediate suspension of entry for undocumented Haitian immigrants, along with their families. And President George W. Bush’s Executive Order 13276 called for the interception of Caribbean migrants and their detainment in Guantanamo Bay.
After a catastrophic earthquake struck Haiti in 2010, TPS status was given to thousands fleeing an already destabilized Haiti. Since then, Haitians have become an important part of the U.S. economy. According to The Haitian Bridge Alliance, Haitians annually contribute $5.9 billion to the United States and pay $805 million in federal and payroll taxes and $755 million in state and local taxes. Haitians accomplish this by working in industries such as caregiving, food, retail, agriculture, mechanics, landscaping and education.
Eliminating TPS will harm the U.S. economy
Thousands of U.S.-born children rely on their TPS Haitian parents’ employment. Eliminating TPS will push thousands of children into poverty and separate them from their families, friends, schools, and communities. It will cause a family separation crisis and run the risk of sending parents back to a life-threatening situation by sending them back to Haiti, a country in “Level 4: Do Not Travel status,” according to the U.S. Department of State.
Since the first Trump Administration, Haitian Americans and Haitian immigrants have faced a wave of racist attacks. Trump labeled Haiti, El Salvador and other countries as “shithole countries” while claiming the U.S. needed more immigrants from Norway. He weaponized Title 42, an emergency public health order, to stop Haitians from seeking asylum and expelled 22,872 Haitian asylum seekers from March 2020 to May 2022 after already deeming Haiti unsafe. President Joe Biden’s Administration allowed Border Patrol agents on horseback to terrorize Haitians at the U.S.-Mexico border, conjuring a real-life depiction of U.S. slavery. And Trump told xenophobic lies that Haitians were eating pet dogs and cats in arguing that Haitians should not be permitted into the U.S. These are just some of the recent attacks on Haitians.
It is long overdue for the U.S. to recognize and honor the humanity, historical stakes and significance of Haiti and Haitians. Immigration is not always a choice. It is a life-or-death situation for Haitians and other TPS holders. The U.S. has the historical, moral and humanitarian obligation not only to extend TPS status for Haitians and others, but also provide pathways to citizenship that do not require immigrants to leave the homes, families and communities they have built in the U.S.
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