Trump ends deportation protection for 500,000 Haitians

The US government will end the temporary protected status (TPS) for 500,000 Haitians living in the country in August, the Department of National Security said Thursday.

This comes despite the conditions of deterioration in the Caribbean country, with Gangs that control around 85% of capital and sexual violence against children that increase by 1,000% last year, According to the United Nations.

The president of the United States, Donald Trump, has moved To review parts of the United States immigration system Since he returned to office and promised “mass deportations” and arrests.

During his presidential campaign, Trump made an unfounded statement that Haiti illegal immigrants had been eating national pets in a small city in Ohio.

City officials He told BBC Verify There had been “credible reports” that this really happened.

Then, the National Security Council spokesman for the United States, John Kirby, described the statement as a “conspiracy theory … based on an element of racism.”

The temporary protected state is granted to the nationals of the designated countries that face unsafe conditions, such as armed conflicts or environmental disasters.

It has been held by the Haitians since 2010 and will end on August 3, 2025.

This means that they will lose their work permits and could be eligible for deportation.

On February 1, the Trump administration announced that the State would also end for Venezuelans living in the United States, but currently faces a legal challenge of the TPS National Alliance.

“For decades, the TPS system has been exploited and abused,” said the National Security Department in a statement on Thursday.

The system has allowed Haitians who “entered the United States illegally, qualified for protected legal status,” he added.

But the announcement has also been received with criticism.

More than 5,600 people in Haiti died in gang violence last year And the UN has said that families are “struggling to survive in makeshift shelters while facing growing health and protection risks.”

Democratic congresswoman Ayanna Pressley described the “shameful” decision in the midst of “indescribable violence” in Haiti.

The Haitians who have lived in the US.