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State leaders and advocates warn of legal uncertainty, economic disruption, and rising fear in immigrant communities.
A festival attendee waves a Haitian flag while wearing a hat with both U.S. and Haitian colors at a May 2025 Haitian flag festival in Somerville.
Josh Reynolds / The Boston Globe
Haitian-American activist Carline Desire had two words to describe her feelings after the Supreme Court ruled to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian and Syrian immigrants: anger and devastation.
“It’s tough for all of us, whether we’ve been here for decades, whether we were born here with Haitian parents, or even grandchildren who were born here with Haitian grandparents,” Desire, the executive director of the Association of Haitian Women in Boston (AFAB), told Boston.com. “I think it’s affecting everyone, knowing that this is real fear in the Haitian community all over the United States.”
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 last week that the Trump administration can move forward with terminating TPS for Haitian and Syrian immigrants. The decision could affect roughly 356,000 people nationwide and potentially open the door to ending protections for other immigrants as well.
About 45,000 TPS holders live in Massachusetts, the largest share of whom are Haitian.
Congress created TPS in 1990 to allow people from countries experiencing armed conflict, natural disasters, or other extraordinary conditions to temporarily live and work legally in the U.S. Haiti received the designation following a catastrophic earthquake in 2010, while Syria’s followed the country’s civil war, which began in 2011.
The ruling follows months of legal and political battles over Haiti and Syria’s designation. In February, a federal judge temporarily blocked the decision while litigation continued, and Massachusetts officials continued to fight to preserve protections for affected families.
Now, with the Supreme Court’s final ruling, attention has shifted to how the decision will be implemented — and how states, cities, and communities will respond.
What the ruling means for TPS holders in Mass.
Despite the Supreme Court ruling, immigration attorneys stress that TPS holders have not immediately lost legal status.
Boston immigration attorney Giselle Rodriguez said the ruling allows the federal government to proceed with termination, but requires further administrative steps before protections actually end.
Rodriguez said she expects the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to issue a formal guidance establishing termination dates and outlining when work authorization will expire.
“There are still many unknowns,” she said. “We do not yet know exactly how the government will implement every aspect of the ruling, nor do we know whether individuals will automatically be placed into removal proceedings once TPS ends.”
Rodriguez said she is advising clients to stay informed, maintain documentation, and consult legal counsel before making decisions about their status.
She added that many TPS holders may still qualify for other forms of immigration relief, including family-based petitions, adjustment of status, asylum-based protections, or employment-based visas.
People hold Haitian flags during a vigil at the Little Haiti Cultural Complex after a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from ending TPS for Haitian in February. – AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File
“I strongly encourage TPS holders to consult with an immigration attorney to review their specific situation before making any decisions,” Rodriguez said. “There is no one-size-fits-all answer.”
Another Boston-based immigration attorney, Annelise Araujo, warned that individuals without alternative legal pathways could face removal proceedings once protections expire.
Araujo also said the ruling could have implications far beyond Haiti and Syria, describing the decision as a “blanket authorization to end all TPS designations.”
“I don’t think that Syria and Haiti are going to be the end of the conversation,” she told Boston.com. “We have other nations that have been granted TPS, and I think we can expect, and we can start planning for, the termination of TPS for those countries as well.”
Fear spreads as advocates warn of broader consequences
According to Desire, many Haitians are fearing what deportation could mean for their families. She said she knew a man who was deported and later died after returning to Haiti.
In April, the U.S. Department of State reaffirmed that Haiti remains a “Level 4: Do Not Travel” advisory, its highest warning, due to widespread gang violence, political instability, and humanitarian crisis. Syria also has been given a “Level 4: Do Not Travel” advisory since December 2025, due to terrorism, unrest, kidnapping, hostage taking, crime, and armed conflict.
“It’s almost like a death sentence for some folks,” Desire said.
For Desire, the decision is also deeply personal, as some of her family members rely on TPS to remain legally in the United States.
Even before the ruling, Desire said fear had already reshaped daily life in Haitian communities. Some people stopped attending church, others avoided public spaces, and many reduced work hours or shifted into “under the table” employment.
Desire said AFAB’s “Know Your Rights” clinics reflect that growing anxiety. The organization assisted 89 people last year and more than 40 in just the first three months of this year. She noted that the number is expected to grow significantly after the court’s ruling.
Desire said her anger is also rooted in what she sees as racial inequality in U.S. immigration policy, pointing to how white South Africans have been welcomed into the country. According to an NPR report, the U.S. has admitted more than 6,000 refugees since Oct. 2025, and all but three are white South Africans.
“It’s okay for us to be enslaved as Black people, but once you don’t have the control or brutality to use against Black people, you don’t want them,” Desire said.
“You face microaggression all the time, and now the government, itself, is the biggest aggressor,” she added. “The president, himself, is the biggest aggressor.”
Economic and community impacts across Mass.
Advocates warn that ending TPS could have widespread consequences for Massachusetts’ workforce, schools, and health care system.
At a Thursday press conference, U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley said businesses could lose workers, forcing some to close, while seniors could lose caregivers in an already strained system.
“And America will lose out on the talent, skills, and culture that immigrants contribute every single day,” she added.
A May report authored by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Ed Markey, and Pressley found that ending TPS for Haitian immigrants could worsen health care staffing shortages and jeopardize patient care across the state.
The report cited estimates that roughly 2,000 direct care workers in Massachusetts are at risk of losing work authorization due to changes in humanitarian immigration programs. It also noted that an estimated 13,000 Haitian TPS holders work as nursing assistants.
Sen. Ed Markey speaks at a press conference at the Cathedral Church of Saint Paul on Friday to discuss the Supreme Court’s decision on TPS holders. – Jonathan Wiggs / Globe Staff
Desire said nursing homes are particularly vulnerable.
“The most important thing is the lack of care the patient will receive over time, and the few people who will stay will eventually get burned out,” she said.
Desire also noted that Haitian immigrants make up a significant share of bus drivers, construction workers, and cafeteria staff in Boston.
Boston Teachers Union President Erik Berg said uncertainty surrounding immigration status will also affect classrooms.
“Our students cannot thrive when they are forced to wonder whether a parent will come home at the end of the day or whether their family will be torn apart,” he said in a statement.
“Instead of creating more fear and instability, our country should be providing families with the security they need to succeed,” Berg added. “We know that there are BTU members with TPS status working in our schools whose contributions to school communities are now jeopardized.”
Desire said the ruling leaves immigrant communities feeling vulnerable and unheard.
“We’re not dogs. We’re not cats. We’re not animals. We are human beings, and we are hurting,” Desire said. “We need our allies to speak loudly against the injustice … We need to see the compassion that we know exists in most people’s hearts.”
Mass. leaders condemn ruling, push legislation
Within hours of the decision, Massachusetts elected officials denounced the ruling and called on Congress to provide permanent legal protections for TPS holders.
Mayor Michelle Wu called the ruling “as cruel as it is lawless,” saying it ignored the federal government’s own findings about conditions in Haiti and Syria.
“Boston will never back down from protecting our neighbors,” Wu said in a statement. “We urge Congress to act now to provide permanent solutions and a pathway to citizenship for TPS holders.”
Attention also intensified around legislation introduced earlier this month by Markey and Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware that would grant people from Haiti humanitarian legal protections and shield them from deportation until after Trump completes his term in 2029. The legislation is currently awaiting review in the Senate Committee on the Judiciary.
“The far-right extremist majority on the court has severed a critical lifeline for people seeking safety and has worsened a humanitarian crisis,” Markey said Thursday at a press conference. “We have a moral duty to protect TPS holders and to provide this vulnerable group a permanent pathway to citizenship. We must continue the fight to protect our neighbors.”
Gov. Maura Healey and Attorney General Andrea Campbell also condemned the ruling, with the Healey administration saying it is working alongside state agencies and community groups to support affected families.
Senate President Karen E. Spilka, the granddaughter of immigrants who fled political violence, said she was “deeply saddened and outraged” by the decision.
“I stand with our immigrant neighbors, and call on Congress to act to uphold the values of compassion and freedom that make America truly great — and restore these protections,” she said in a statement.
Pressley, co-chair of the House Haiti Caucus, called the ruling “lawless, cruel, and devastating.” She noted that the ruling could have implications for other countries’ TPS designations, such as Venezuela, Honduras, and Ukraine.
“Today’s Supreme Court ruling is a rubber stamp, a rubber stamp for a cruel and callous administration that seeks to separate families, traumatize children, profit off their pain, and deport them even though they did nothing wrong and committed no crime,” Pressley said at the Thursday press conference.
Desire said AFAB is concentrating on helping families understand their rights while also building momentum behind Markey’s bill, S. 4814.
“Due to the climate under President Trump, [many TPS holders] cannot hit the street,” she said. “We need our allies to flood social media, to rally, to use so many different strategies to make sure that Bill 4814 is passed at the Senate level.”
The Mattapan-based Immigrant Family Services Institute said it is scaling up its response through legal clinics, community information sessions, and direct support for families navigating immigration processes.
“TPS holders are not strangers. They are our neighbors, coworkers, parents, caregivers, taxpayers, and friends. They have followed the law, worked hard, raised families, and contributed to this country,” an IFSI spokesperson said in a statement to Boston.com. “This is a moment for moral clarity. We cannot remain silent while families are being pushed into fear and uncertainty.”
United Way of Massachusetts Bay also announced it has activated its United Response Fund, in partnership with the Healey administration, to help meet the immediate needs of immigrants who could lose their legal status and work authorization.
“Today we heard a call, a call from our leaders, our elected officials and our neighbors — and now we need a response,” United Way President and CEO Marty Martinez said in a statement. “The end of the Temporary Protected Status will create significant harm to individuals, families, employers and communities. This is a time for rapid, coordinated action.”
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