The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 Thursday the Trump administration has the authority to terminate Haitian and Syrian immigrants’ temporary protection status that shielded them from deportation.
The ruling directly affects thousands of Haitians in Indiana and impacts their larger community of an estimated 50,000 people. That includes a sizable population in Logansport.
TPS is given to countries with ongoing armed conflict, environmental disaster, an epidemic or another extraordinary and temporary condition.
Haiti first received TPS designation in 2010, following a major earthquake, and has since been renewed until President Donald Trump moved to end it in 2025.
Ruth Estriplet is the founder and president of Haitian Grassroots Coalition of Midwest. She said she’s been taking calls from concerned friends and colleagues.
“There’s a panic, I would say, you know, a heart-wrenching disappointment from the Supreme Court ruling,” Estriplet said.
If TPS is removed, Estriplet said it will have a large impact on Indiana’s Haitian population.
“I see … families out of work, you know, scared to send their children to school, and businesses closed, and you know hospitals out of nurses,” Estriplet said. “That’s what I see, and it will affect all of us.”
The final ruling from the high court came after more than a year since the Trump administration determined the country no longer meets the conditions to qualify for TPS designation.
Estriplet disagrees with that assessment.
“The country is going to turmoil, you know, like really very inhumane situations where people are being persecuted, where gangs are taking over the neighborhoods,” Estriplet said. “So to really say that the country is okay, that, you know, it’s livable, it’s just, it’s just not.”
There is a federal bill that would extend TPS status for Haitians. It passed the House with bipartisan support but awaits a vote in the Senate.
U.S. Rep. André Carson supported the bill. He posted on X, formerly Twitter, his disappointment in the Supreme Court’s decision.
“For many immigrants targeted by this administration, that means returning to extremely dangerous conditions after they’ve already fled for their lives. That doesn't make our country safer. It’s just wrong,” Carson said.
U.S. Sen. Jim Banks on social media thanked the Supreme Court for its ruling on what he called “flagrant abuse of our immigration system.”
Estriplet said she hopes enough Senators vote to pass the TPS extension.
“I know that there is a plan B, which the Senate is hoping to introduce the three years of TPS into law, but we'll see what that results into,” Estriplet said. “So, in the meantime, we're just praying and just staying positive.”
Contact WFYI All Things Considered newscaster and reporter Samantha Horton at shorton@wfyi.org or on Signal at SamHorton.05
