Attorney General James Takes Action to Defend Temporary Protected Status for Haitian Immigrants

February 17, 2026

NEW YORK - New York Attorney General Letitia James co-led a coalition of 17 other attorneys general in defending the legal status of hundreds of thousands of Haitian immigrants, including many who have lived and worked in the United States for over a decade. The coalition filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in support of a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for attempting to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for more than 350,000 Haitians. Attorney General James and the coalition argue that terminating TPS for Haitians would jeopardize the safety, health, and economy of communities throughout the country and upend the lives of families who have been living and working in the United States for years.

"Every day, Haitian immigrants contribute immensely to New York, from working in our schools and hospitals to running successful small businesses," said Attorney General James. "This administration's continued efforts to strip away the legal status of hundreds of thousands of Haitians will put families in danger and tear apart our communities. I will keep fighting to protect immigrants' rights and ensure Haitians with TPS can continue living, working, and raising their families safely in this country."

Nearly one in four TPS holders nationwide is Haitian. Attorney General James and the coalition argue that eliminating TPS for Haitians would cause chaos in the lives of hundreds of thousands of families, including the many U.S. citizens living with a Haitian family member with TPS. In 2022, 87,000 U.S. citizen children and 116,000 U.S. citizen adults lived with a Haitian TPS holder. TPS-holder parents would be forced to choose between abandoning their children and returning to Haiti alone, taking their families with them to a dangerous and unfamiliar country, or remaining in the U.S. without legal status and with the constant fear that they could be forcibly separated and deported to Haiti at any time.

As Attorney General James and the coalition explain in the amicus brief, canceling Haitian TPS holders' legal status would jeopardize their work permits, harming states' economies and public health. At least 56,000 New Yorkers are Haitians who hold TPS, and terminating their legal status would impact an important source of tax revenue for the state. Haitian TPS holders pay over $140 million annually in New York state and local taxes and contribute over $800 million to the state's economy. In addition, ending work authorization for hundreds of thousands of Haitians with TPS would deprive many of them and their families of their employer-sponsored health insurance. Without legal status, Haitian immigrants and their loved ones would be less likely to seek treatment at hospitals and clinics, where the Trump administration has increased immigration enforcement.

Attorney General James and the coalition are urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to reject the federal government's motion to stay the district court's decision preventing DHS from terminating TPS for more than 350,000 Haitians while the case continues.

Joining Attorney General James in submitting this brief are the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai'i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia.

Attorney General James has consistently taken action to protect immigrants who hold TPS from the Trump administration's attempts to unlawfully strip them of their legal status. In November 2025, Attorney General James led 15 other attorneys general in filing an amicus brief to defend TPS for Haitian and Venezuelan immigrants. In September 2025, Attorney General James co-led a coalition of 18 other attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia defending TPS for Haitian immigrants. In July 2025, Attorney General James co-led a coalition of 14 other attorneys general in filing an amicus brief defending TPS for immigrants from Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal.