Attorney General Charity Clark joined a coalition of 18 attorneys general on Feb. 17 in filing an amicus brief in the case Miot, et al. v. Trump, et al., before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The coalition opposes the Trump Administration’s attempt to overturn a lower court’s decision that postponed the termination of Haiti’s Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation while litigation continues.
The issue is significant because TPS is a humanitarian immigration status created by Congress to protect foreign nationals who cannot safely return to their home country due to war, natural disaster, or other extraordinary conditions. Haitian immigrants have been eligible for TPS since 2010 after a devastating earthquake struck Haiti, and extensions have continued due to ongoing unsafe conditions such as violence and homelessness.
According to the Attorney General’s office, on November 28, 2025, the Trump Administration announced it would end Haiti’s TPS status effective February 3, 2026. This was done without evidence that conditions in Haiti had improved and despite the U.S. State Department maintaining its highest risk travel advisory for the country. A federal judge stayed this decision on February 2, preserving TPS protections while legal challenges proceed. The federal government appealed this order on February 6 and requested permission from the appeals court to move forward with ending TPS.
In their brief, Clark and her colleagues argue that ending Haiti’s TPS designation would separate families and negatively impact economies and public health across states. They say thousands of TPS recipients work as health care providers, teachers, entrepreneurs, and construction workers in communities nationwide. “Stripping these individuals of their legal status would force them either to face life in uncertainty and vulnerability without legal protections or to return to a country experiencing exceedingly dangerous conditions,” they said.
The brief also notes that Haitians eligible for TPS contribute $3.4 billion annually to the U.S. economy and participate heavily in labor-short industries such as health care support services. The coalition warns that removing legal status from these workers will cause irreparable harm to families and state economies.
Clark and her fellow attorneys general are asking the Court of Appeals to deny the federal government’s motion for a stay so that hundreds of thousands of Haitians can remain legally protected under TPS while litigation proceeds.
