By Hank Russell
A local elected official praised a decision made by a federal judge to continue giving Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to 350,000 Haitian immigrants living in this country, allowing them to stay while the legal process takes its course. TPS was supposed to expire on February 3.
On February 3, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes ruled against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who sought to deport the immigrants once their TPS expired. Reyes — who was appointed to the bench by then-President Joe Biden — said Noem failed to consult with the appropriate agencies before making the decision to send them back to their home country.
“There is an old adage among lawyers. If you have the facts on your side, pound the facts. If you have the law on your side, pound the law. If you have neither, pound the table. Secretary Noem, the record to-date shows, does not have the facts on her side—or at least has ignored them. Does not have the law on her side—or at least has ignored it. Having neither and bringing the adage into the 21st century, she pounds X (f/k/a Twitter),” Reyes wrote in her conclusion.
“I welcome the court ruling pausing the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians in the United States,” Nassau County Legislator Carrié Solages (D-Valley Stream) said. “When a government moves to suddenly remove legal protections from 350,000 people who are lawfully living and working in this country, the courts have a responsibility to step in — and that is exactly what happened. This decision reinforces a core principle of our democracy — executive authority is not unlimited, and due process matters.”
Daniel Drucker, an immigration attorney at the Long Island-based Drucker Law Firm, added, “This decision recognizes the reality facing Haitian nationals today. Sending people back to a country struggling with political instability, widespread gang violence, food insecurity, and public health crises would put lives at risk.”
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told The Hill that TPS “was never intended to be a de facto amnesty program, yet that’s how previous administrations have used it for decades.”
Haitian immigrants were issued TPS in 2010 when a powerful earthquake hit the country. In July 2025, the Trump administration tried to send them back to Haiti, saying the danger no longer exists. However, five Haitian immigrants filed suit to stop the deportation, with their attorneys arguing the country is ravaged with political unrest, gang violence, poverty and disease.
“Temporary means temporary and the final word will not be from an activist judge legislating from the bench,” McLaughlin said.
Reyes also accused Noem of basing her decision on “hostility to nonwhite immigrants,” according to the Associated Press. She cited a post by Noem on X, in which the DHS secretary wrote, “I am recommending a full travel ban on every damn country that’s been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies. Our forefathers built this nation on blood, sweat, and the unyielding love of freedom—not for foreign invaders to slaughter our heroes, suck dry our hard-earned tax dollars, or snatch the benefits owed to AMERICANS. WE DON’T WANT THEM. NOT ONE.”
Solages disagreed. “Haitian TPS holders are law-abiding individuals who have built families and strengthened our communities. Until permanent, lawful solutions are established, these protections must remain in place.”
“For years, immigrants seeking safety and opportunity have been unfairly portrayed as threats rather than contributors,” Drucker said. “This ruling pushes back against policies driven by fear and misinformation, and it reaffirms that humanitarian protections must be grounded in facts, not prejudice.”