Haitian-Americans United, Inc., Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts, UndocuBlack Network, Inc., and four individual Haitian and Venezuelan migrants residing in Boston filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts on March 3, 2025, challenging the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS's) decision to terminate Haitian and Venezuelan Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Haitian-Americans United Inc., et al. v. Trump, No. 1:25-cv-10498.
The latest lawsuit joins two existing suits filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland on Feb. 20, 2025, challenging the termination of Venezuela TPS.
The suit alleges that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem lacked legal authority to vacate former DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas' July 1, 2024, decision to grant an 18-month extension of TPS for Haiti, and his Jan. 17, 2025, decision to grant an 18-month extension of TPS for Venezuela.
The complaint cites "dehumanizing and disparaging statements" that President Donald Trump has made against Haitian and Venezuelan migrants, including the claim that Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, were eating dogs and cats.
The suit further contends that the Trump Administration is discriminating against both groups of migrants based on race, ethnicity, or national origin in violation of the Fifth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.
In addition to violations of the Equal Protection Clause, the suit cites violations of the Administrative Procedure Act. It asks the court to declare that former DHS Secretary Mayorkas' 18-month extensions of Haiti and Venezuela TPS remain in effect and to enjoin enforcement of Secretary Noem's decisions to terminate Haiti and Venezuela TPS.
The plaintiffs request that the court issue an injunction "preliminarily and permanently" precluding DHS from implementing or enforcing the 2025 Haiti Vacatur, the 2025 Venezuela Vacatur, and the 2025 Venezuela Termination.
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