A federal judge in Washington has reportedly blocked the Trump administration from shutting down a humanitarian program that allows some 350,000 Haitians to live and work legally in the United States.

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes on Monday granted an emergency request to halt the termination of Haitians’ Temporary Protected Status (TPS) while litigation over the decision continues. Associated Press the report said.

TPS allows qualified immigrants from countries facing unsafe conditions to remain in the United States and obtain work authorization, but it does not provide a path to citizenship. Haiti’s designation expires on February 3.

Reyes said in a two-page order that termination would be “void and without legal effect” during the stay, preserving the recipients’ ability to work and protecting them from arrest and deportation.

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U.S. District Judge Anna Reyes in Washington granted a stay of the request to terminate the Haitians’ Temporary Protected Status. (AP Photo/Lynn Slutkey)

The judge also said the plaintiffs were likely to prevail on the merits of the case and found it “very likely” that the Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem The decision was made due to “hostility toward non-white immigrants.”

The Secretary of Homeland Security may grant TPS when conditions in a foreign country are deemed unsafe due to natural disasters, armed conflict, or other extraordinary circumstances.

Haiti first received TPS designation after a catastrophic earthquake in 2010 and has remained under TPS due to political instability, natural disasters and a surge in gang violence.

The designation has been extended several times.

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Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem attends a command induction ceremony at U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Luke Johnson/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“If the termination is in effect, people will almost certainly die,” lawyers representing Haiti’s TPS holders warned in a December court filing, citing violence, disease and food insecurity in Haiti.

The lawsuit also claims Noem failed to properly assess whether the country remained unsafe and that the decision was motivated by “racial animus.”

then, Department of Homeland Security dispute These claims also suggest that conditions in Haiti have improved.

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In March 2024, violence continued in Haiti, with gangs wreaking havoc in Port-au-Prince. Photography: Project Dynamo (Generator Plan)

government lawyer argued that the accusation of racial bias relied on statements taken out of context and insisted that Noem provided a “reasonable and prima facie adequate explanation” for ending protections.

A notice issued by the Department of Homeland Security in November also stated that it authorized the creation of a new force to combat gangs and determined that continuing TPS for Haitians was contrary to the national interest.

Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said “TPS in Haiti was obtained following the earthquake that occurred 15 years ago.”

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“It was never intended to be a de facto amnesty program, but that’s what previous administrations have used for decades,” McLaughlin said in a statement.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment.