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The Conversation
The Conversation
Gina Perez, Professor and Chair of Comparative American Studies, Oberlin College and Conservatory

‘Sanctuary people’ redefine what it means to protect immigrants in uncertain times

Ushers at the First Haitian Evangelical Church of Springfield, Ohio, hold hands during Sunday service on Jan. 26, 2025. AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao

Hundreds of thousands of Haitians in the U.S. are living in uncertain times. On June 25, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration could proceed with a plan to end Temporary Protected Status – a federal program that allows people to stay in the United States when the government considers their own country unsafe – for around 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians. Their work permits are scheduled to end July 24, leaving TPS holders at risk of deportation.

This uncertainty is not new. In 2010, President Barack Obama granted TPS to Haitians living in the U.S. after an earthquake killed approximately 200,000 people in Haiti. The original period was 18 months, but TPS has been renewed multiple times because of humanitarian concerns, gang violence and political unrest.

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