US bishops urge Trump administration to end mass deportations of Haitians

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — A few weeks after Temporary Protected Status for Haiti was terminated, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, urged the Trump administration to end mass deportations to Haiti.

In a letter to President Donald Trump dated Sept. 8, Archbishop Coakley wrote, “I implore you to avoid further endangering innocent human life by ceasing the deportation of large numbers of people to Haiti at this time, particularly while there is not an adequate system in place to provide for their safe and orderly reception and reintegration.”

“The current approach will only contribute to the country’s already deepening crisis, undermining your own strategic objectives for the Western Hemisphere,” he said. “Please exercise your authority under the U.S. Constitution to provide deferred enforced departure for Haitians peacefully residing in the United States.”

The termination of the TPS designation for Haiti was effective July 27. TPS for El Salvador was scheduled to expire Sept. 9, however, the Trump administration appeared to delay that expiration, saying it would make an announcement “at the appropriate time” and until then, “Salvadoran individuals present in the U.S. under TPS retain protection.”

However, that statement left legal status for 200,000 Salvadoran immigrants uncertain, and their attorneys have said work permits have still expired.

In August, hundreds of faith leaders and organizations urged the Trump administration to extend TPS for El Salvador, including Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami, Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer of Atlanta, Atlanta’s auxiliary bishops and Bishop Stephen D. Parkes of Savannah, Georgia. The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, Ignatian Solidarity Network, and CLINIC were also among the many Catholic groups signing the letter, as were religious orders such as the Sisters of Mercy and the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration.

A grave humanitarian crisis and gang violence persist in Haiti. The U.S. Department of State has urged U.S. citizens not to travel there.

The U.S. has carried out hundreds of deportations to Haiti in the weeks since its TPS designation ended. In an August press release titled in part “HOME SWEET HAITI,” DHS said a recent deportation flight to that nation included individuals who were convicted of violent crimes.

Archbishop Coakley acknowledged that while “individual Haitians could still be disqualified from this relief on a case-by-case basis,” indiscriminate mass deportations of this population would create employment gaps in “critical areas such as health care,” as well as separating families of mixed legal status.

“The strength of our communities depends, in large part, on the well-being of such families,” he said.

The U.S. bishops have also offered their support to the American Dream and Promise Act of 2025, which they have argued would provide a fair, just, and long-term legal solution for Dreamers — individuals brought to the U.S. as children who are under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA — and those who have or previously had TPS status.

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