Haitians facing 'hard situation' as Trump administration tries to end legal status early

Source: USA Today

Updated Sept. 15, 2025, 12:42 p.m. ET


L. got a call one recent Friday from a friend, desperate to talk and pleading to meet. She hesitated. She hardly ventures out anymore. That evening she risked it and for two hours shared slices of cheese pizza and worries. Both are Haitian immigrants whose temporary legal status in the United States is set to expire soon.

Like many Haitians living in America, neither L. nor her friend has decided yet what to do: Return to their tumultuous country, 700 miles from Miami, stay illegally in the United States or relocate to another country altogether. L., who asked to be identified only by her first initial because of her risk for early deportation, left the pizza shop angry, frustrated, stressed. “If my country was okay, we wouldn’t be in this situation,’’ she thought.

For at least three years, Haiti's capital city of Port-au-Prince has been overrun by armed gangs, and political turmoil has extended into many of the Caribbean nation's villages and towns. United Nations officials said in July that the country "nears collapse" and Haitians face a national humanitarian crisis.

L., who has been here for two years, is among the more than 500,000 Haitians in the United States living and working legally in offices, hospitals, nursing homes, hotels and factories under a Temporary Protected Status that is soon to disappear.

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/09/15/haitians-limbo-trump-administration-end-tps-visas/85987841007/