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Expiration of protected status threatens Boston’s Haitian families
More than 350,000 Haitians nationwide, including thousands in Boston, could lose legal status when Temporary Protected Status ends Feb. 3.
The expiration of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians on Feb. 3 is putting thousands in Boston and across the United States at risk of losing their legal status, sparking fear and uncertainty in a community that has lived in the U.S. for decades.
TPS allows recipients to live and work legally in the U.S. and access a Social Security number, but it does not provide a path to permanent residency or citizenship, said Giselle Rodriguez, a Boston immigration attorney.
Carline Desire, executive director of the Association of Haitian Women in Boston, said she came to Massachusetts from Haiti in 1975 and has spent the past decade advocating for TPS for Haiti, which was first designated after the 2010 earthquake there. Since January 2025, she has carried her passport everywhere she goes.
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“The fear is real,” Desire said. “It’s not just for the people who just arrived. It’s for all of us.”
The expiration affects more than 350,000 Haitians nationwide, Desire said.
Conditions in Haiti remain unsafe: Just this past July, the U.S. government issued a “Level 4: Do Not Travel” advisory, its highest warning, due to widespread gang violence, political instability, and humanitarian crises, said Guerline Jozef, co-founder and executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance.
About four months after the advisory, the Department of Homeland Security announced it would end TPS for Haiti, saying that, after “reviewing country conditions with appropriate U.S. Government agencies,” it determined the country “no longer meets the conditions for designation of Temporary Protected Status.”
Legal consequences after Feb. 3
Without TPS or another immigration option, “protection simply disappears,” leaving many vulnerable to removal, Rodriguez said.
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Rodriguez said people may receive Notices to Appear in immigration court, which begin removal proceedings.
“The minute they get an NTA, that means that deportation proceedings have begun against them with the court,” she said.
Others may attempt to remain in the U.S. without legal status, placing them at risk of detention and removal if they encounter immigration authorities, Rodriguez said.
Options to stay in the U.S.
Some Haitian TPS holders may qualify for alternative legal pathways, including marriage to U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents, or through U.S.-born children who may eventually be able to petition for them, Rodriguez said.
Others consider applying for asylum — but, Rodriguez said, generalized violence in Haiti is usually insufficient for a successful claim.
“Because it happens to the entire population, that’s not enough for an asylum claim,” she said, adding that victims must show specific targeting to prove their case, though many lack physical evidence.
Other options include U visas for crime victims, T visas for human trafficking survivors, or family-based sponsorships — all of which “require a waiting game” and strict eligibility, Rodriguez said. Sibling sponsorships, for example, can take over a decade, she added.
The impact on families, Boston, and the country
Over the past year, the Haitian community has lived in “an intense state of trauma and heightened fear,” Jozef said.
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Desire added that this stress has affected both physical and mental health, contributing to sleep loss and increased anxiety.
“The fear factor is not only mom and dad, but it’s also the children, and even that will connect directly with lack of performance in the school system,” Desire said.
Family separation is a major concern, Jozef said, and could strain foster care and adoption systems.
Desire warned that losing legal status may push some TPS holders into exploitative work situations, including being paid under the table or facing abuse with little recourse.
“I think it’s going to become so unbearable for some of these people that they will be exploited,” Desire said. “You may have so many different situations in place where people have no choice but to go about doing whatever necessary to ensure that they’re still alive.”
The consequences extend beyond individual families. Immigrants make up one in four long-term care workers and more than 30% of nursing home support roles, according to a press release from U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley.
The timing of TPS termination coincides with a growing need for care workers: By 2050, the U.S. population aged 65 and older is projected to grow by 50%, while the country faces a shortage of 3.5 million health care workers by 2030, according to the press release.
Advocates and lawmakers respond
At a Capitol Hill press conference Thursday, Pressley joined advocates to urge an extension of TPS for Haitians. Rep. Maxwell Frost introduced a discharge petition to force a vote in the House on extending TPS protections. The petition requires 218 signatures in the House to advance, but as of Tuesday, it had only 27.
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“Haitians in this country that are on TPS are not a burden to taxpayers. They’re actually an asset to our nation,” Frost said. “They are the people taking care of our seniors, the people taking care of our children, the people who are helping our economy.”
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Organizations in Boston and across the U.S. are preparing Haitian families for potential legal challenges. Groups, such as the Haitian Bridge Alliance and Association of Haitian Women in Boston, are hosting legal clinics, helping families develop emergency plans, and providing know-your-rights resources.
Jozef said her organization is pursuing federal lawsuits in New York, Washington, D.C., and California while working closely with members of Congress to secure bipartisan support for protecting TPS holders.
“We strongly believe that right now we are in the middle of the largest mass delegalization of people who already have immigration status in the United States,” Jozef said. “We are calling on the American people to stand on behalf of Haitian TPS holders, to stand on behalf of other immigrants who are really trying to do the best that they can to provide for themselves and be safe and protected.”
Desire said she is hosting a meeting Tuesday night with Haitian leaders and officials, primarily in Boston, to discuss community responses.
“We’ve been victimized over and over and over again as a nation, as Black people, as Haitian,” Desire said. “We want to see a change, and we need the support of folks who believe in doing the right thing, who believe we need to make this society livable, doable. A society where we welcome all — this is a country of immigrants.”
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For now, however, Boston’s Haitian community remains in limbo.
“I am hoping that we have a lot of people who believe the Constitution is for all of us,” Desire said. “And if we do — men, women, young, old — that means we have to say, ‘No. What’s happening is wrong. We need to stop it.’”
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