Federal judge rules in favor of Haitians with TPS, restores February 2026 deadline

Jacqueline Charles and Jay Weaver, Miami Herald on Jul 1, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

A New York federal judge has ruled in favor of Haitians with temporary legal status in the United States, deciding on Tuesday that the Trump administration was wrong in deciding to cut short their end date by six months.

U.S. District Judge Brian M. Cogan’s ruling means that Haiti’s temporary protected status designation should return to its original February 2026 date, giving more than a half-million Haitian nationals with TPS more time to shield themselves against losing their work permits and deportation protections in the United States.

Cogan found that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem exceeded her authority when she shaved off six months from the 18-month TPS extension that the prior Biden administration had granted to Haitian nationals.

“Secretary Noem’s (decision) was in excess of her authority and was thus unlawful,” Cogan wrote, noting that he was granting partial summary judgment to the Haitian immigrants who challenged her because they “are likely to prevail on the merits” in their lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security.

“Plaintiffs have also shown they will suffer irreparable injury without postponement” of the Trump administration’s TPS end date for Haitian immigrants, Cogan added.

In his ruling, Cogan also partly denied the administration’s motion to dismiss the Haitian immigrants’ lawsuit, filed in federal court in the Eastern District of New York.

Earlier this year, Noem shortened by six months Haiti’s 18-month extension for Haitian TPS holders in the United States. Her order meant that instead of enjoying the legal protections against deportation until February 2026, Haitians nationals in the U.S. were only protected until Aug. 3. That was later moved to Sept. 2 in the Federal Register when the administration failed to publicize its decision within 60 days of the original termination date.

The administration is likely to appeal Cogan’s decision.

TPS is a humanitarian benefit given to countries in turmoil and allows their nationals in the U.S. to live and work legally here on a temporary basis. Noem’s initial decision to overturn an order by the Biden administration to extend the benefit for Haitians before leaving office prompted nine Haitian nationals with TPS and two associations to file suit in the federal court in Brooklyn, asserting their due process rights and racial discrimination on the part of the Trump administration.

The administration had asked for the suit to be dismissed and argued that it had the sole authority to end TPS for Haitian nationals in the U.S. Cogan, meanwhile, had been waiting on the administration to decide on Haiti’s TPS designation before ruling on the lawsuit.

“We are appreciative of the judge’s recognition that Secretary Kristi Noem and the Trump administration engaged in illegal conduct when they vacated part of the 18 months that had been given to Haitians under the Biden administration,” said Ira Kurzban, a Miami immigration attorney who is among the lawyers that brought the lawsuit. “This means that Haitians’ TPS is restored to the original 18 months until February 2026.”

_____