It’s a confusing landscape with a lot of legal jargon. So what does it all mean?
Birthright citizenship
Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship has been paused, although the merits of the case have not yet been ruled upon, said senior attorney at Advocates for Basic Legal Equality Katie Kersh.
“For now, people who are born here (in the U.S.) are eligible for birthright citizenship, regardless of who their parents are, where they come from,” Kersh said.
A Supreme Court order limiting nationwide injunctions came June 27 as a result of the Trump administration arguing in its birthright citizenship case that lower courts do not have the authority to put policies on hold nationwide.
The court’s opinion in Trump v. CASA allowed for the possibility of nationwide class-based injunctions and nationwide injunctions in cases that challenge agency actions as illegal.
A new class-action lawsuit was filed also on June 27, and U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante of New Hampshire issued a new class-based nationwide injunction July 10.
As long as this injunction is in place, Trump’s executive order cannot go into effect.
It is unclear when the Supreme Court will rule on the merits of the executive order and whether it violates the 14th Amendment.
Temporary Protected Status and parole
Earlier this month, a federal judge blocked the earlier end of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for more than 500,000 Haitians already in the U.S.
TPS was initially set to end Feb. 3, 2026 after the Biden administration extended it, but the Department of Homeland Security announced an official termination to happen Sept. 2, 2025, saying that conditions in Haiti had improved and its immigrants no longer meet the conditions for TPS.
District Court Judge Brian M. Cogan on July 2 ruled that moving up the expiration date is unlawful, and the status now ends in February as previously planned.
That February end could end up set aside itself due to the current situation in Haiti, but no ruling to that end has been made, Kersh said.
Haiti’s TPS status was initially activated in 2010 after the catastrophic earthquake and has been extended multiple times, according to the lawsuit.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Gang violence has displaced 1.3 million people across Haiti as the local government and international community struggle with the spiraling crisis, according to a report from the International Organization for Migration. There has been a 24% increase in displaced people since December with gunmen having chased 11% of Haiti’s nearly 12 million inhabitants from their home, the report said.
In May, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to strip TPS from 350,000 Venezuelans, potentially exposing them to deportation. The order put on hold a ruling from a federal judge in San Francisco that kept the legal protections in place.
The Supreme Court ruled May 30 that the Trump administration can take away some temporary legal protections, potentially exposing more than 500,000 people nationwide to deportation.
Those impacted entered the country through the Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans (CHNV) Humanitarian Parole and do not have another legal status protecting them from removal. Thousands of Haitians in Springfield are in this situation, though an exact number is unknown.
The CBP One parole program was not terminated en masse, though many people have received individual notices that their parole was also terminated, ABLE staff attorney Karli Gibson said.
Many Springfield Haitians without another status have received notices of termination of their associated work permits, Gibson said.
There aren’t many options for people in this situation, but litigation may continue, Gibson said. They may be eligible for some public benefits even while undergoing removal proceedings.
What are the options to stay?
Many Haitian immigrants are applying for other statuses, like asylum, in order to remain in the country. Gibson said ABLE encourages people to apply for other statuses, especially considering long wait times.
Filing fees for immigration benefits like TPS, asylum and accompanying work permits will increase following the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Gibson said.
“Even though these were changes that were supposed to be implemented immediately, they did not necessarily set forward the exact process to actually file fees and process them,” Gibson said.
USCIS and immigration courts are currently determining how to process new fees, she said.
Those seeking legal advice should make sure they go to reputable sources. ABLE is constantly hearing about people being scammed, community organizer Biassu Pierre said.
“Weekly, I’m receiving about five calls from people who have been deceived by scammers or people pretending to be notary or lawyer,” Pierre said. “These people sometimes pay between $500 to discover ... that they have been scammed.”
If a scammer purports to submit immigration paperwork but never actually files it, that can put someone in a tough spot.
“People are missing their one-year filing deadlines for asylum,” Kersh said. “They will be sent back to a country where they will be tortured because they’ve been taken advantage of by people.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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