These Haitian Immigrants Contribute Nearly $6 Billion to the Economy. Their Fate Is in the Supreme Court’s Hands

Jan Gautam may soon have to let go of hundreds of workers at dozens of hotels in Florida. That’s why the CEO of IHRMC Hotels & Resorts is closely watching an immigration case that’s before the Supreme Court this week.

The employees are Haitians with Temporary Protected Status, known as TPS. Their ability to live and work in the United States was scheduled to expire in early February, but a federal judge paused the Trump administration’s termination of their protections. The administration appealed to the Supreme Court, which is set to hear oral arguments in the case on Wednesday.

Roughly 30% of Gautam’s hotel staff in Florida are Haitians who are TPS holders, working as housekeepers, landscapers, supervisors and in other positions. If he is forced to dismiss them, he could have to keep some rooms closed at times because the hotels won’t be able to promptly prepare them for the next guests. Plus, he’ll have to spend thousands of dollars training each new employee, further squeezing his profit margin.

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The fate of Gautam’s staff and that of more than 350,000 other Haitian immigrants rests in the hands of the Supreme Court justices, who have sided with the Trump administration in most of its appeals involving immigration. TPS relief, which allows holders to live and work in the United States, applies to people who would face extreme hardship if forced to return to homelands devastated by armed conflict or natural disasters.

Haitian immigrants became eligible after an earthquake rocked the country in 2010. The designation has since been renewed multiple times as the country faces a host of crises, including widespread violence by armed gangs, food insecurity, displacement and a leadership vacuum after the president was assassinated in 2021.

Five Haitian TPS holders are challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s termination of the protections, arguing that the agency didn’t conduct the necessary review of whether it’s safe to return to Haiti and that the agency’s decision stems, in part, from President Donald Trump’s racial animus. DHS has argued the protections were never intended to be permanent.

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