WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The Trump administration cancelled on Thursday an extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) that was granted to more than 500,000 Haitians by former president Joe Biden.

The United States (US) grants TPS to foreign citizens who cannot safely return home because of war, natural disasters or other “extraordinary” conditions.

It had been extended for Haitians by 18 months, to February 2026, by the Biden administration, but will now expire on August 3.

“President Trump and I are returning TPS to its original status: temporary,” Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem said in a department statement.

“This is part of President Trump’s promise to rescind policies that were magnets for illegal immigration and inconsistent with the law,” the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) statement said.

The number of Haitians eligible for protection has skyrocketed from 57,000 in 2011 to 520,694 in 2024, according to the US government’s estimates.

The TPS extension afforded by Biden was “far longer than justified or necessary”, said a DHS spokeswoman.

Trump — who during his election campaign said that immigrants were “poisoning the blood” of the United States — quickly ordered a review of the whole TPS program on returning to office.

During his campaign, he made baseless claims that Ohio City had seen a recent influx of Haitian migrants who were stealing and eating residents’ cats and dogs.

“The Trump administration is ripping stability away from half a million Haitians who have built their lives here — children, workers, parents, and neighbours who have become integral to American communities and contributed to our economy,” said Beatriz Lopez, co-executive director of the Immigration Hub, an organisation working on advancing policy solutions for aspiring citizens.

“This reckless decision doesn’t just harm them; it destabilises the very businesses, families, and local economies that rely on them.”

Last month, the Trump administration revoked protection from deportation for more than 600,000 Venezuelans in the United States.

“The people of this country want these dirtbags out. They want their communities to be safe,” Noem said on Fox News in January.

Struck by a devastating earthquake in 2010, Haiti has suffered from chronic political instability for decades and more recently from increasing violence by armed groups.

Despite the election of Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime in November and the deployment of a United Nations (UN) backed security mission to support Haiti’s national police, violence persists.

At least 5,601 people were killed by gang violence in Haiti in 2024, according to the UN.