In the letter, Yost along with 18 other Republicans claimed that the program, which grants protected status for citizens who are unable to return to their countries of origin during times of crisis, has been applied too loosely and allows noncitizens to live in the U.S. indefinitely.
The attorney’s general asked Noem to expedite the review on taking office, saying that the secretary is required to remove the designation when the country no longer meets the conditions for the protected status.
Though he does not specifically mention Haiti in the letter, Temporary Protected Status became a major point of debate in Springfield leading up to the presidential election after more than 10,000 Haitian immigrants settled in the area of the city in the past five years.
Many of the Haitians living in and around Springfield have protection via TPS, as Haiti has seen its president assassinated and its infrastructure ravaged by earthquakes. In 2023, the U.S. ordered all of its non-essential personnel to leave Haiti as violent gangs took over its capital city.
The Biden administration extended TPS for Haiti to Feb. 3, 2026
The Haitian migrants were thrust to the fore of Republican messaging leading up to the 2024 presidential election, with Donald Trump and then-Senator JD Vance magnifying false claims that the Haitians were eating their neighbor’s pets, despite local officials and even the woman who wrote the viral Facebook post saying there was no evidence of it ever happening.
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