‘Couldn’t breathe’: TPS holders fear they’re now deportation targets following Supreme Court ruling

Immigrants are reeling from the decision that leaves them vulnerable to removal after decades in the U.S.

When Harlaine, an emergency room and travel nurse, learned Thursday morning that the Supreme Court opened the door for the Trump administration to end immigration protections for Haitians like herself, she said the weight of the decision sliced through her.

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“I just couldn’t breathe. I think I stopped breathing for a few minutes, and it was just like a heaviness on my chest,” said Harlaine, a recipient of Temporary Protected Status since her mid-30s. The program provides temporary humanitarian relief to people from countries experiencing war, natural disasters or other catastrophes. It also allows them to work legally in the country and shields them from deportation. Some have lived in the U.S. for decades.

Harlaine feels desperate at the idea that she and potentially hundreds of thousands of others will suddenly lose their jobs once they lose their work permits without TPS status. She worked as a nurse in hospitals during the Covid pandemic with patients that included critically ill people on ventilators.