Immigration and Customs Enforcement is preparing to launch a national blitz targeting Haitian immigrants whose Temporary Protected Status will expire Monday, rendering hundreds of thousands deportable overnight, according to reports.
Legal protection from deportation, known as TPS, expired at 11:59 p.m. ET Monday for roughly 340,000 illegal immigrants from Haiti who are residing in the United States, teeing up a massive demographic that the Trump administration intends to target for deportation, CBS News and Fox News reported over the weekend.
Although the Department of Homeland Security has ended TPS for more than half a dozen other countries under Trump, this TPS expiration is significant because of the size of the Haitian population, as well as President Donald Trump’s past comments, in which he accused Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, of butchering household pets, putting a bullseye on the city.
A man carries an AI-generated image of former President Donald Trump carrying cats away from Haitian immigrants, a reference to falsehoods spread about Springfield, Ohio, during a campaign rally for Trump on Sept. 12. (Rebecca NOBLE/AFP)
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A man carries an AI-generated image of former President Donald Trump carrying cats away from Haitian immigrants, a reference to falsehoods spread about Springfield, Ohio, during a campaign rally for Trump on Sept. 12. (Rebecca NOBLE/AFP)
The White House now has an opportunity to increase ICE arrests quickly, while Haitian immigrants face a nightmare scenario of being returned to a country that proponents of TPS say is unsafe and unstable for their repatriation.
Operations underway
A leading immigrant rights advocate who works with Haitian immigrants told the Washington Examiner she was receiving calls every hour about ICE sightings.
Haitian-American activist Guerline Jozef is co-founder and the executive director of nonprofit Haitian Bridge Alliance. Jozef said ICE had already descended on at least one large Haitian neighborhood by Monday.
“Every hour I receive a call, a text that states we have heavy ICE presence throughout the community,” Jozef said. “We have seen most of the ICE presence, heavy ICE presence here in Brooklyn, New York.”
Although the DHS would not comment on operations, NewsNation confirmed on Monday that an ICE operation began in New York on Monday. Sources told reporter Ali Bradley that ICE was searching for people who had been arrested by local police and released from jail rather than held and turned over to ICE.
One ICE officer told the Washington Examiner that officers in his region of the country are waiting for mandatory details to other parts of the country, which could give them just days, and sometimes less than 24 hours, to report to another part of the country.
“Our office is clearing out administrative units and putting officers to field units,” the officer wrote in a text message. “(Relative) Calm before the storm.”
A University of Minnesota Police officer threatens student protesters with arrest for chaining themselves to a door on campus during an anti-ICE protest, on Friday, Feb. 6, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
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A University of Minnesota Police officer threatens student protesters with arrest for chaining themselves to a door on campus during an anti-ICE protest, on Friday, Feb. 6, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
Where ICE may show up
The Migration Policy Institute released data Monday that revealed 50% of Haitian immigrants reside in the Miami, New York, Orlando, and Boston regions.
Anyone arrested by ICE is likely to be detained for weeks to months in federal detention settings as they wait to go before an immigration judge, who will determine whether they will be deported. If ordered deported, ICE will carry out the removal by plane.
After a long pause, the Trump administration conducted its first deportation flight to Haiti on July 16 and has vowed to increase to two flights per week when TPS expired for Haitians. MPI criticized the restart of deportations to Haiti.
“Sending back Haitians and Syrians to unstable and dangerous conditions in their home countries is not simply a legal issue for our nation, but a moral one,” MPI said in a press release issued Monday. “Haiti, the poorest nation in our hemisphere, is experiencing severe economic, political, and social insecurity, with gangs controlling parts of the country and terrorizing and killing innocent civilians.”
Immigrant advocate groups respond
Haitians have known since Trump took office last year that ICE was likely to go after this demographic in particular, Jozef said.
“It’s a matter of ‘when.’ We have passed the ‘if’ moment since 2024, and I’ll be honest with you,” Jozef said. “Since January 2025, it has always been a ‘when’ moment, not an ‘if’ moment.”
The Haitian Bridge Alliance has traveled around the country in Trump’s second term educating Haitian immigrants how to be prepared in case a family member or entire family is swept up by ICE.
“People have homes, they have businesses, they have cars. What will happen?” Jozef said. “We are praying and fighting for the best and preparing for the worst at the same time.”
Jozef recalled a recent conversation with a Haitian woman whose husband was recently deported and whose nine-year-old daughter is afraid to go to school because she feared coming home to find her mother had also been taken away by ICE.
“The trauma that we see within the community, and the story of his family, it is not a single story, ” Jozef said. “It is the reality of what we are seeing on a daily basis. And the woman told me that it feels as if it’s a tsunami or an earthquake, and we keep on having aftershocks, and they don’t know how and when this will be their turn.”
Jozef encouraged Haitians whose TPS ended Monday to connect with nonprofit organizations for support, put a family plan in place, and get in contact a reputable immigration lawyer.
Lynn Tramonte, executive director of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance, said her organization created the Ohio Immigrant Hotline and website for immigrants to get help and ask questions.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TO EXPAND ICE DETENTION SIGNIFICANTLY ON EAST COAST WITH NEW FACILITY: REPORT
“We continue to advocate for Congress to enact a law that extends your immigration status, temporarily or permanently,” Tramonte wrote in a text message. “A bill already passed the House on a bipartisan basis and could also pass the Senate. But the party in charge must allow it to come to a vote.”
ICE did not respond to a request for comment about its operations.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
