A federal judge in Washington D.C. denied the Trump administration's attempt to halt an order keeping temporary protected status in place for Haitian refugees.
U.S. District Court Judge Ana Reyes issued a ruling Monday, stating the Trump administration failed to prove how keeping TPS status in place for more than 300,000 Haitian refugees causes irreparable harm to the government. Reyes said Haitian TPS holders will maintain their TPS status pending litigation; will continue to work and maintain health insurance; will continue to pay federal, state and local taxes and will continue to contribute to their communities.
Reyes said under the order, no additional Haitians will gain TPS.
TPS status for Haitian remains in legal limbo. The Trump administration already submitted an appeal to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Reyes blocked an attempt by the Trump administration in early February to end TPS for Haitians. The Trump administration denounced the ruling as "lawless activism" and attempted to submit a motion to stay the order.
Reyes wrote that the government had to prove irreparable harm to stay the order. Reyes pointed out that keeping TPS in place for Haitian refugees doesn't cause any new harm, but rather maintains the status quo.
Reyes said the government was unable to name a single concrete harm and instead it argued that the court’s decision is “an improper intrusion by a federal court into the workings of a coordinate branch of the Government."
"The argument, taken to its logical conclusion, is that anytime a court stays government action, the Government is irreparably harmed. That is not the standard," Reyes wrote.
