Opinion ID: 4565247
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Haiti

Text: Haiti was originally designated for TPS in 2010 after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake, which affected a third of Haiti’s 20 RAMOS V. WOLF population and severely impaired the country’s critical infrastructure. Designation of Haiti for Temporary Protected Status, 75 Fed. Reg. 3476-02, 3477 (Jan. 21, 2010). Subsequently, Haiti’s TPS designation was extended or redesignated five times, including once by the Trump administration. 7 The 2012, 2014, and 2015 extensions cited factors other than the original earthquakes, such as subsequent “steady rains . . . which led to flooding and contributed to a deadly cholera outbreak.” E.g., 77 Fed. Reg. at 59944. The 2014 extension noted the Haitian government’s “considerable progress in improving security and quality of life of its citizens.” 79 Fed. Reg. at 11,809. In May 2017, Secretary Kelly extended Haiti’s designation for six months from its planned expiration on July 2017 to January 2018. 82 Fed. Reg. at 23,830. The extension notice noted that “Haiti has made significant progress in addressing issues specific to the earthquake,” that 96% of people living in displaced-person camps had left those camps, and that security had improved enough for the United Nations to announce its intention to withdraw its peacekeeping mission in the following months. Id. at 23,832. It also encouraged beneficiaries to prepare to return to Haiti should its TPS designation be terminated after six months. Id. In January 2018, Acting Secretary Duke terminated Haiti’s TPS designation with an effective date of July 22, 2019, stating that DHS, in consultation with other federal agencies, had “determined . . . that the conditions for Haiti’s 7 See Extension of the Designation of Haiti for Temporary Protected Status, 76 Fed. Reg. 29000-01 (May 19, 2011); 77 Fed. Reg. 59943-01 (Oct. 1, 2012); 79 Fed. Reg. 11,808-01 (Mar. 3, 2014); 80 Fed. Reg. 51,582 (Aug. 25, 2015); 82 Fed. Reg. 23,830-01 (May 24, 2017). RAMOS V. WOLF 21 designation for TPS—on the basis of ‘extraordinary and temporary conditions’ relating to the 2010 earthquake that prevented Haitian nationals from returning safely—are no longer met.” Termination of the Designation of Haiti for Temporary Protected Status, 83 Fed. Reg. 2648-01, 2650 (Jan. 18, 2018). The notice stated that Haiti “has made progress recovering from the 2010 earthquake and subsequent effects that formed the basis for its designation,” noting that: Haiti had closed 98% of the displaced-person sites; only approximately 38,000 of the estimated two million Haitians who lost their homes in the earthquake were still living in camps as of June 2017; the United Nations had withdrawn its peacekeeping mission in October 2017; the country had completed a presidential election in February 2017; its Supreme Court was again operational; the country was in the process of rebuilding government infrastructure destroyed by the earthquake and had experienced continuing growth of its GDP since the earthquake. Id. The notice also stated that although Haiti had grappled with a cholera epidemic that began after the earthquake, cholera was at its lowest level since the earthquake occurred. Id.