FORT MYERS, Fla. — A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration's effort to end Temporary Protected Status for Haitians, providing temporary relief for thousands who have built lives in America over the past decade.
As Fort Myers Community Correspondent Miyoshi Price walks down Fowler in Fort Myers, she's surrounded by Caribbean-inspired businesses and churches. A woman named Lissa Louis met with Price at a local Haitian church. She stated that the area is home to many Haitian Nationals who live with uncertainty about their immigration status.
Watch Fort Myers Community Correspondent Miyoshi Price explain the woman's story:
Louis, a Haitian American who recently became a U.S. citizen, recalls the fear that defined her childhood after arriving in Fort Myers at 3-years-old.
"It's definitely PTSD. You know, I've gone through immigration my whole life," Louis said. "We lived in constant fear."
Louis describes traumatic memories recent ICE raids have brought back to the surface.
"I can remember early on, door knocking, banging, and we would have to hide under the bed. We couldn't go outside. We missed school quite a bit, because at the time, my mother feared for our lives," Louis said.
Relief came when her family received Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in 2010, a designation granted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to those unable to safely return to their home countries.
"We officially got our Social Security cards. And that was a pathway for me as I got older, to get a work card and start, you know, doing what I needed to do," Louis said.
For the past 15 years, Louis has bought a home, got married, started a career as a broker, and became a mother. The fear of deportation for her family seemed to be behind her.
"We're well past temporary. I think that there needs to be a pathway. These people are our taxpayers," Louis said.
She only became a U.S. citizen in 2024, after what she describes as a 20-plus-year process.
"It felt unreal, and I felt a little bit of impostor syndrome as I'm watching these raids go on, because now I'm thinking, well, why did God spare me? And now my people are still suffering," Louis said.
On Tuesday, District Court Judge Brian M. Cogan in New York ruled that moving up the expiration of TPS for Haitians by at least five months is unlawful. The Trump administration's effort would have ended protections on September 2.
The ruling comes as President Donald Trump works to end protections and programs for immigrants as part of his mass deportation promises.
"They're in jeopardy of being sent back to a place where they have nothing. And even right now, the country is in turmoil, and they acknowledge that the administration doesn't acknowledge that the country is in turmoil, and yet they're still trying to send the majority of Haitians back. It's a tough thing to watch." Louis said.
“This decision restores integrity in our immigration system and ensures that Temporary Protective Status is actually temporary,” said a DHS spokesperson. “The environmental situation in Haiti has improved enough that it is safe for Haitian citizens to return home. We encourage these individuals to take advantage of the Department’s resources in returning to Haiti, which can be arranged through the CBP Home app. Haitian nationals may pursue lawful status through other immigration benefit requests, if eligible.”
"I understand that there isn't a country alive that doesn't have immigration laws. We need them. However, the way that they're going about it is inhumane. We're talking about detention centers. Louis said. "One just opened up in Florida, and they're talking about how they don't need many guards because, you know, they're going to let the alligators take care of it. That's inhumane."
As Haitians and many other TPS holders remain in limbo, Lewis offers encouragement from her own journey.
"I'm a woman of faith, and so my faith kept me not to say that it wasn't difficult not to say that I didn't have moments where, you know, I was discouraged, moments where I didn't understand why things were happening the way that they were. But God placed a lot of people in my life, and God gave me a strength that I didn't know that I had, and it kept me pushing forward and persevering because I knew that it was greater than me. And I'm no longer ashamed of my story. I'm no longer ashamed of who I am," Louis said. "I realize now that that 24 years that I went through this process, it made me who I am today, and now I can advocate for other people who are dealing with the same situation or feel like there's no hope, or feel like they're not seen like we see we hear you, we love you, we know what you're going through. And I wish that the government would have that same sentiment and have more compassion towards these people."
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
