U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is preparing a major increase in efforts to find and arrest Haitian nationals whose Temporary Protected Status is expected to expire soon, multiple federal sources told Fox News.
The expanded enforcement push could get underway as early as this week.
The Supreme Court’s certified judgment is expected to be sent to the lower courts on Monday, a step that would allow the Trump administration to move forward with ending TPS protections for more than 300,000 Haitians.
Federal sources told Fox News that Ohio is expected to be a significant focus of the operation, citing the large Haitian community in Springfield. ICE leadership has been briefed on the plans, the sources said.
A broad ICE enforcement operation aimed at Haitian migrants who are expected to soon lose Temporary Protected Status could begin this week, Fox News has learned. (Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)
The development comes after the Supreme Court last month overturned lower-court rulings that had delayed the administration’s efforts to terminate TPS designations for Haiti and Syria while legal challenges played out.
Haiti first received TPS after the catastrophic 2010 earthquake. The program permits eligible foreign nationals from countries facing armed conflict, natural disasters or other extraordinary circumstances to live and work legally in the U.S. on a temporary basis.
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The expected enforcement action follows the Trump administration’s continued push to end Haiti’s TPS designation. (Jaque Silva/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The anticipated enforcement operation follows the Trump administration’s long-running effort to end Haiti’s TPS designation, arguing that the program was never intended to become a permanent form of legal status.
Following the Supreme Court’s decision, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson called the ruling “a tremendous win” for the administration.
“Today, the Supreme Court affirmed what President Trump has always maintained: temporary protected status is, by definition, temporary. It was never intended to be a pathway to permanent status or legal residency,” Jackson told INC News. “The Trump Administration continues to lawfully end the egregious abuses to our immigration system that have hurt Americans for years.”
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) General Counsel James Percival also praised the ruling in a post on X.
“The Court vindicates DHS yet again,” Percival wrote. “The T in TPS stands for TEMPORARY, yet many of these designations became de facto amnesty. This is a win for the rule of law and common sense.”
The anticipated enforcement operation comes as Springfield remains a focal point in the national immigration debate after the rapid growth of its Haitian community thrust the Ohio city into the national spotlight during the 2024 presidential campaign.
