Catholic bishops’ committees urge extending protections for Haitian migrants

Two committees of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) are urging President Donald Trump’s administration to extend legal protections for Haitian migrants living in the United States.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced in November 2025 that the United States would terminate the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian migrants on Feb. 3. It is expected to affect more than 300,000 Haitians, many of whom are Catholic.

TPS provides temporary legal protections that allow the migrants to live and work in the United States as long as the status is in effect. Noem determined Haiti “no longer meets the conditions for the designation,” which means those migrants will lose those protections and will be required to leave the United States.

Bishop Brendan J. Cahill, chair of the USCCB Committee on Migration, and Bishop A. Elias Zaidan, chair of the USCCB Committee on International Justice and Peace, issued a joint statement urging the administration to reverse its decision and extend Haiti’s TPS status.

“We are deeply concerned about the plight of our Haitian brothers and sisters living in the United States,” the bishops said in the statement. “… There is simply no realistic opportunity for the safe and orderly return of people to Haiti at this time.”

The bishops acknowledged that TPS is meant to be “temporary” and said Congress should “create viable opportunities for longtime residents with TPS, regardless of nationality, to request a more durable legal status.” Without action from Congress, they said, “the onus is on the executive branch to act in a just and merciful way.”

“The Trump administration still has the opportunity to do the right thing — to safeguard human life, to uphold the law, and to promote greater stability for people in this country and beyond,” the bishops wrote. “TPS was created by Congress with these very goals in mind, and the ongoing conditions in Haiti are precisely the sort warranting TPS. We urge the administration to act accordingly by extending this vital relief for Haitians.”

In their statement, the bishops also reaffirmed “the U.S. Church’s solidarity with our Haitian brothers and sisters, wherever they may be.”

“We turn to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, patroness of Haiti, for her intercession; may she always be a source of strength and comfort for the Haitian people,” the bishops concluded.

Legal challenges

The termination of TPS for Haitian migrants is facing legal challenges. In October 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the administration could proceed with terminating the status for Haitians while litigation continues.

Since Trump took office, the federal government has ended or is in the process of ending TPS designation for migrants from 11 countries.

The TPS for migrants from Myanmar was set to expire this week, and the status was extended through a court order. The TPS designation for Ethiopians is set to expire in February as well and has faced legal challenges.