A federal judge issued a last minute reprieve for Haitians with Temporary Protected Status.
This ruling preserves protections — for now — for thousands of Haitians living in the Springfield area and around the U.S.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, in Washington D.C., means that termination of TPS is paused while a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration moves forward.
The ruling came as TPS was set to expire at 11:59 p.m. Feb. 3.
"Kristi Noem has a First Amendment right to call immigrants killers, leeches, entitlement junkies, and any other inapt name she wants," Reyes wrote in her conclusion. "Secretary Noem, however, is constrained by both our Constitution and the APA to apply faithfully the facts to the law in implementing the TPS program. The record to-date shows she has yet to do that."
In recent weeks, Springfield leaders and residents have been bracing for a possible surge in ICE agents.
More than 330,000 Haitians are living in the United States with TPS.
The George H.W. Bush administration enacted the TPS program in 1990.
Haitians were initially granted Temporary Protected Status after an earthquake in 2010 devastated the country and killed 222,570 people.
The Biden administration extended Temporary Protected Status to Haitians in 2021 after the assassination of the president of Haiti.
This is a developing story that will be updated.
