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BALTIMORE, MD – Attorney General Anthony G. Brown today joined a coalition of 19 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in Miot, et al. v. Trump, et al. in the Supreme Court of the United States, opposing the Trump administration’s effort to overturn a lower court’s decision to preserve Temporary Protected Status (TPS) protections for certain Haitian nationals while litigation on the termination of Haitian TPS continues.
“Maryland’s Haitian TPS recipients are teachers, health care workers, and entrepreneurs – essential members of our communities and contributors to our economy,” said Attorney General Brown. “We won’t stand by while these protections are stripped away, forcing our neighbors to be sent back to one of the most dangerous countries on earth.”
TPS is a humanitarian immigration status created by Congress to protect foreign nationals who cannot safely return to their home country because of war, natural disaster, or other extraordinary conditions. TPS allows recipients to live and work in the United States as long as their home country has a TPS designation. Haitian immigrants have been eligible for TPS since 2010, when a devastating earthquake hit the country. The protections have continuously been extended due to unsafe conditions in Haiti, including widespread violence, homelessness, and starvation.
On November 28, 2025, the Trump administration provided notice that it would end Haiti’s TPS status, as of February 3, 2026, without any evidence that the dangerous conditions in Haiti had improved and despite the fact that the U.S. State Department continues to classify Haiti as a “Level 4: Do Not Travel” country –its highest risk designation. On February 2, 2026, a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia stayed the Trump administration’s decision to end Haiti’s TPS, which was set to expire the next day. This order preserved TPS protection for Haitians while the litigation over the lawfulness of the termination continues. On February 6, 2026, the federal government appealed this order and moved for a stay, asking the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to let them move forward with the termination despite the district court’s ruling. The coalition filed an amicus brief opposing the request for a stay, and the Court of Appeals denied the Trump administration’s request. The federal government’s request for a stay is now with the Supreme Court.
In the brief filed today, Attorney General Brown and the coalition urge the Supreme Court to deny the federal government’s motion for a stay, arguing that terminating Haiti’s TPS status would separate families, damage economies, deplete workforces, increase healthcare costs, and harm public health and safety. They argue these harms will be immediate and long-lasting, even if the Plaintiffs ultimately win their case, and TPS protections must therefore be maintained while the case proceeds.
Across states, thousands of TPS recipients provide important public services, in roles such as healthcare providers, teachers, entrepreneurs, construction workers, and more. Stripping these individuals of their legal status would force them either to face the uncertainty, vulnerability, and risk of deportation without legal protections and without the ability to work legally or to return to a country experiencing exceedingly dangerous conditions.
TPS-eligible Haitians contribute $3.4 billion annually to the U.S. economy. Approximately 69% of Haitian immigrants aged 16 and older were members of the civilian labor force in 2022, with high rates of participation in healthcare support and service industries. Furthermore, a recent estimate found that 75,000 TPS-eligible Haitians work in labor-short industries.
Maryland is home to a rapidly expanding Haitian community, including many Haitian nationals who live and work in the state through TPS. Haitian TPS holders in Maryland are deeply embedded in the local workforce and community life, working in healthcare, hospitality, construction, transportation, and public service, among other critical industries.
In submitting their brief, Attorney General Brown and the coalition are asking the Supreme Court to deny the federal government’s motion for a stay and protect the hundreds of thousands of Haitians legally in the United States under the TPS program while the litigation proceeds.
Joining Attorney General Brown in submitting this brief are the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaiʻi, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.
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