Federal court blocks Trump administration move to end TPS for...

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Haitians living in Ohio will not face mass deportation this week after a federal judge blocked the Trump administration’s effort to end their Temporary Protected Status. In an 83-page ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Ana Reyes issued a scathing critique of the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s decision not to renew TPS protections. “Kristi Noem has a First Amendment right to call immigrants killers, leeches, entitlement junkies, and any other inapt name she wants,” Reyes wrote. “Secretary Noem, however, is constrained by both our Constitution and the APA (Administrative Procedure Act) to apply faithfully the facts to the law in implementing the TPS program. The record to-date shows she has yet to do that.” About 350,000 Haitians nationwide were at risk of losing legal status if the protections had ended as scheduled at midnight Tuesday. That includes about 15,000 Haitians in the Springfield area and another 30,000 in Central Ohio, according to local estimates. As that deadline loomed, many families in Springfield were taking painfully practical steps in preparation for possible deportation. Viles Dorsainvil, the director of the Haitian Support Center said. Haitian parents who rely on TPS have been are working to secure passports for about 1,300 U.S.-born children in Clark County. Carl Ruby, pastor of Central Christian Church in Springfield, said many parents have also signed power-of-attorney documents, giving trusted friends or relatives legal authority over their children in case they are detained or deported. Previously: Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, allows people from countries facing war, natural disasters, or other extreme crises to live and work legally in the United States. The designation is typically reviewed and renewed every 18 months if conditions in the home country remain unsafe. Haiti was first designated for TPS after a devastating earthquake in 2010, and the status has been extended repeatedly as the country faced political instability and widespread violence. “The government is supposed to look at conditions on the ground and say, ‘Is it safe to send people back?’” said Geoff Pipoly, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs. “And the government did not do that in this case.” Pipoly said about 95% of Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital, is controlled by gangs. Commercial flights from the United States are barred from landing there, he said, because “the gangs stand there with military-grade small arms and fire at the planes.” Reyes cited that danger in her ruling, writing that “‘Do not travel to Haiti for any reason’ does not exactly scream, as Secretary Noem concluded, suitable for return.” Pipoly expects the federal government to appeal the decision. The case, Miot v Trump et al., would then go to a three-judge appellate panel and could ultimately reach the U.S. Supreme Court. “This 11th-hour reprieve is, of course, welcome. But people can’t live their lives like this, pegging their families’ futures to a court case,” Ohio Immigrant Alliance’s Executive Director Lynn Tramonte said in a statement.