Farah Larrieux hasn't been able to sleep. She's stocked her refrigerator and cupboards with food because she's afraid to leave home. A sheet of white paper now covers the small glass panel in her front door. She's memorized her attorney's phone number in case Immigration and Customs Enforcement shows up to detain her.
Larrieux is one of 300,000 Haitians in the U.S. losing the legal status that has allowed them to live and work in the United States after the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status protections last month. The ruling has left TPS holders bracing for an uncertain future and rattled South Florida's Haitian community, where Haitian immigrants work across the region's health care, hospitality, construction and service industries.
A Protection Granted 16 Years Ago
Temporary protected status was first granted to Haitians 16 years ago after Haiti's devastating 2010 earthquake because conditions in the country were considered too dangerous for them to return. But in a statement to NPR, the Department of Homeland Security said "conditions in Haiti have improved sufficiently to support the return of Haitian nationals." The agency also said TPS "was never intended to be a de facto asylum program" and that "temporary protections cannot become permanent by default."
Larrieux, who works two jobs including running her own communications business, has paused both and plans to live off her savings while applying for asylum. She fears that returning to Haiti would amount to a death sentence because she's publicly criticized the country's government. "If I don't get mistreated by ICE at the detention center, I may be killed in Haiti," she said. "My blood will be on Trump's hands." She added, "They always treat us like we're nothing. Our life has no value."
Economic Consequences for South Florida
Her fears echo those of many across Florida, home to roughly 500,000 people of Haitian descent. There are 158,000 Haitian TPS holders in South Florida, according to a recent fact sheet from FWD.us, UndocuBlack Network and the Haitian Bridge Alliance.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava warned that ending TPS would ripple far beyond the regional Haitian community. At a news conference last week, she said Haitian TPS holders have become an integral part of South Florida's businesses and communities. "The termination of temporary protected status for Haitians is a heartbreaking and unnecessary decision," Levine Cava told NPR. "This decision will separate families, hurt our workforce and weaken our economy."
Paul Christian Namphy, the political director for Family Action Network Movement, a national nonprofit that supports low-income families, said Haitian TPS holders' labor is "absolutely essential for the economy, particularly in specific sectors, such as the health sector and the senior care sector here in South Florida." He estimates that Haitian TPS holders contribute billions of dollars to metro economies, including Miami's. "Therefore, the economic impact [of their removal] would be absolutely catastrophic," he said.
A Contradiction in Federal Policy
Father Reginald Jean-Mary, pastor of Notre Dame D'Haiti Catholic Mission in Miami's Little Haiti neighborhood, said uncertainty has spread throughout his congregation. Many Haitian families are afraid to leave their homes, and attendance at church has dropped sharply.
Jean-Mary also questioned the federal government's decision to end TPS while the State Department continues to advise U.S. citizens not to travel to Haiti. The department says Haiti has been under a national state of emergency since March 2024. "The same breath you are breathing, that's what the Haitians are breathing," Jean-Mary said. "By asking them to go back to a place where people are being killed every day, that you yourself would never go, neither send your family, how would you ask somebody to do that? This is mean-spirited, and there is no humanity into that."
Asked whether it planned targeted immigration enforcement involving Haitian nationals following the expiration of TPS, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said the agency conducts law enforcement activities every day across the country but "does not discuss ongoing or future operations." DHS General Counsel James Percival defended the administration's decision, saying, "What we would say now is it's closing time, which means you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here."
Larrieux said armed gangs control much of Haiti, kidnappings are widespread and violence has displaced more than a million people. "For many Haitians, returning to Haiti is simply not a safe option," she said. "I can tell you that I feel empty. Like I'm living a nightmare."
Why This Matters:
The termination of TPS for 300,000 Haitians exposes the human cost of immigration policy that treats people who've built lives and contributed to their communities for 16 years as disposable. In South Florida alone, 158,000 TPS holders work in essential sectors like health care and senior care, and their removal threatens to destabilize the regional economy while separating families who've put down roots. The contradiction is stark: the federal government is forcing people to return to a country it simultaneously warns American citizens not to visit, where a national state of emergency has persisted for over two years. This decision doesn't just affect individual Haitian families living in fear—it weakens the social fabric and economic stability of entire communities that depend on their labor and participation.