SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Former President Donald Trump said in an interview on News Nation Wednesday that, if he is re-elected in November, he would revoke Temporary Protected Status for Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio and deport them.
This comes after he amplified false claims about Haitian Immigrants eating pets in Springfield.
But does the president have the authority to revoke Temporary Protected Status?
Immigration lawyer Rishi Oza with the firm Brown Immigration Law says the executive branch does have the power to end TPS, but there is a process.
"The law isn't arbitrary," Oza said. "You can't just wave a wand and get rid of a program like TPS."
The American Immigration Council says the Secretary of Homeland Security has the authority to grant Temporary Protected Status, not Congress. TPS grants have to be renewed every 18 months and a new administration could decline to renew Haiti's. Haiti's protected status runs through February 2026.
The designation is made for people living in countries dealing with crises including war, natural disasters and other extraordinary and temporary conditions. Oza said administrations must consider several factors when considering revoking TPS.
"They have to go through what are the current country conditions. What are the capabilities of that country to absorb the number of people coming back," Oza said. "So those are all the things a redesignation or a termination should take into account."
Oza said TPS is inherently designed to be temporary, but sometimes the conditions in the designated countries do not warrant somebody going back.
Oza also said when the government revokes temporary protected status, it can be challenged in court.
The American Immigration Council said when the Trump Administration tried to end Haiti's TPS status in 2018, a court halted the effort, and then the Biden Administration reversed it.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has repeatedly said the Haitian immigrants in Springfield are here legally. He emphasized that again on Thursday.
"If you are a legal immigrant, you are here legally and you want to work and you want to raise your family, you are welcome in the state of Ohio," DeWine said.