Amicus Curiae Brief — Donald J. Trump, President of the United States, et al., Petitioners v. Fritz Emmanuel Lesly Miot, et al.

Supreme Court briefMar 16, 2026

Ask Donna

What actually matters in this document.

Text

No. 25A999

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, et al.,

Applicants,

FRITZ EMMANUEL LESLY MIOT, et al.,

Respondents.

BRIEF OF THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR & CONGRESS OF

INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS (“AFL-CIO”) AND TEN AFFILIATED LABOR

UNIONS AS AMICI CURIAE IN OPPOSITION TO APPLICATION FOR STAY

Matthew Ginsburg

Andrew Lyubarsky

Counsel of Record

Hannah Cohen Smith*

AFL-CIO

815 Sixteenth Street, N.W.

Washington, DC 20006

alyubarsky@aflcio.org

(202) 637-5115

*Admitted in ME only. Practice in D.C.

supervised by D.C. Bar members.

Counsel for Amici Curiae

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

INTEREST OF AMICI CURIAE ................................................................................................... 1

INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT ............................................................. 4

ARGUMENT .................................................................................................................................. 7

DHS’s Decision to Terminate Haiti’s TPS Designation Will Harm, Not Help, U.S.

Workers ............................................................................................................................... 7

Removing Haiti TPS holders from the workforce would severely harm U.S.

workers and the economy. ...................................................................................... 7

Insight from amici show that staying the district court's order would cause

significant harm to U.S. workers and the economy. ............................................... 9

CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................. 21

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES

Page(s)

Cases

Edwards v. Hope Med. Grp. For Women, 512 U.S. 1301 (1994)…………………………………8

Motor Vehicle Mfrs. Ass’n v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co.,

463 U.S. 29 (1983) ................................................................................................................... 6

Statutes

8 U.S.C. § 1254a(b)(1)(C) .............................................................................................................. 5

Administrative Materials

DHS, “Designation of Haiti for Temporary Protected Status,”

75 Fed. Reg. 3476 (Jan. 21, 2010) ………............ ……………………………………..…….5

DHS, “Extension and Redesignation of Haiti for Temporary Protected Status,”

89 Fed. Reg. 54484 (July 1, 2024) ............................................................................................ 5

DHS, “Partial Vacatur of 2024 Temporary Protected Status Decision for Haiti,”

90 Fed. Reg. 10511 (Feb. 24, 2025) ....................................................................................... 13

DHS, “Termination of the Designation of Haiti for Temporary Protected Status,”

90 Fed. Reg. 54733 (Nov. 28, 2025)................................................................................ 6, 7, 8

Miscellaneous

Beatrice Dain & Jeanne Batalova, “Haitian Immigrants in the United States,” Migration Policy

Institute (Nov. 8, 2023), https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/haitian-immigrants-unitedstates-2022 .............................................................................................................................. 10

Dee Gill, “Codifying the Nursing Home Industry’s Elusive, Alarming Turnover Rates,” UCLA

Anderson Rev. (2021), https://anderson-review.ucla.edu/codifying-the-nursing-homeindustrys-elusive-alarming-turnover-rates .............................................................................. 12

Donnelle Eller, “Beyond Ottumwa: Thousands of Iowa, US Meatpacking Jobs at Risk in Migrant

Crackdown,” Des Moines Register (Aug. 11, 2025),

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/agriculture/2025/08/11/trump-crackdownon-immigrants-could-cost-meatpackers-20-of-workers-ice/85441314007 ............................ 17

Elizabeth Trovall, “Trump administration’s ending of TPS for Haitians accelerates staffing

crunch in elder care,” Marketplace (Jan. 15, 2026),

https://www.marketplace.org/story/2026/01/15/end-of-tps-for-haitians-could-devastate-eldercare .................................................................................................................................... 12, 14

Jesús Villero, Brendan Warshauer & Youran Wu, Brief: 550,000 Workers Lose Status By End of

2025: Potential Impact By State And Industry, Penn Wharton (Nov. 19, 2025),

https://budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu/issues/2025/11/19/demographic-and-labor-marketprofile-of-tps-beneficiaries. .................................................................................................... 20

Letter from Katie Smith Sloan, President & CEO of LeadingAge, to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem

(Apr. 30, 2025), available at https://leadingage.org/wpcontent/uploads/2025/04/LeadingAge-to-DHS-re-TPS-and-Parole-4.30.25.pdf ............. 12, 13

Miriam Jordan, “Haitians Are Vital to U.S. Health Care. Many Are About to Lose Their Right to

Work,” N.Y. Times (Jan. 29, 2026), https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/29/us/trump-tpshaitians-health-care-job-losses.html ....................................................................................... 13

Simón Rios, “As Legal Status is Set to End for Many Haitians, Mass. Health Care Sector Braces

for Staffing Shortages,” WBUR (Aug. 7, 2025),

https://www.wbur.org/news/2025/08/07/haitians-tps-massachusetts-trump-healthcare...........................................................................................................................................13

Simón Rios, “In meeting with members of Congress, Haitians voice fears of losing legal status

next month,” WBUR (Jan. 21, 2026), https://www.wbur.org/news/2026/01/21/congresshaitians-pressley-boston-tps-trump..........................................................................................14

Steve Eder, Danielle Ivory & Marcela Valdes, "The Hidden Truth Linking the Broken Border to

Your Online Shopping Cart," N.Y. Times (Nov. 17, 2024),

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/17/us/immigration-undocumented-migrants-jobs.html .. 16

iii

INTEREST OF AMICI CURIAE 1

The American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organizations

(“AFL-CIO”) is a federation of 65 national and international labor organizations with a total

membership of nearly 15 million working men and women who are employed in every sector of

this country. All ten other amici are labor organizations affiliated with the AFL-CIO.

The Service Employees International Union (“SEIU”) is a labor organization of

approximately two million members who work in the healthcare industry, state and local

government, and in property service industries, such as janitors, security officers, airport

workers, retail, distribution, laundry, and fast food workers, and adjunct professors, throughout

the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. SEIU is the largest healthcare union in the United

States with one million members nationwide, with its members working in hospitals, ambulatory

care centers, off-site provider-based clinics, nursing homes and home care settings. The decision

by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) to terminate the Temporary Protected

Status (“TPS”) designation for Haiti would harm SEIU's members and the communities they

serve, including SEIU members in the healthcare sector, where tens of thousands of Haitian TPS

holders are employed and providing critical healthcare services.

The American Federation of Teachers (“AFT”) is a labor union that represents

approximately 1.8 million members across the United States who provide essential services in

education, healthcare, and the public sector. Many AFT members are foreign-born, including

those authorized to work in the U.S. through the TPS program for Haitian nationals. These

Amici certify that no counsel for a party authored this brief in whole or in part; and that no

person other than these amici made a monetary contribution to its preparation or submission.

workers are public servants. They teach in our classrooms, care for patients, and serve our

communities. The AFT is greatly concerned about the harmful impact that ending Haitian TPS

will have on its members with Haitian TPS, their families, colleagues, and the communities they

serve.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO

(“AFSCME”) is a union of 1.4 million members in the United States and Puerto Rico who serve

in a wide range of public-sector roles—from health care and veterans’ home staff to nurses and

corrections officers to transportation and infrastructure workers—that provide essential services

to their communities. AFSCME represents members who are lawfully present and authorized to

work under TPS for Haiti and who are integral to the communities they serve. The continuation

of TPS directly affects their ability to remain employed, support their families, and deliver the

critical services our communities rely on. AFSCME participates in this case to protect its

members’ rights and to support policies that ensure lawfully present workers can continue

contributing to the public good.

The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (“UFCW”) is a

labor union that represents over a million workers across the United States, Canada and Puerto

Rico. UFCW is the largest purely private sector union in the United States, with the majority of

its members working in the retail food, meatpacking and food processing industries. A

significant number of Haitian TPS holders are among their ranks and play a vital role in feeding

American families.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (“IAM”) is a

large and diverse international union representing nearly 600,000 active and retired members

across aerospace, air transport, rail, manufacturing, public sector, health care, and more. The

IAM demands respect and dignity in the workplace and its communities, for all its members and

their families, including members legally working in the United States through the Haiti TPS

program. These Haitian national members are vital contributors in the workplace, and integral to

our communities.

The Laborers’ International Union of North America (“LIUNA”) is a union of over

530,000 workers who build and serve this country every day, including many authorized to work

in the U.S. through the TPS program for Haitian nationals. LIUNA was founded in 1903 by

immigrant workers who believed that every worker that labors with dignity deserves fair

treatment, safe conditions, and a voice on the job. That promise still guides LIUNA today.

UNITE HERE International Union (“UNITE HERE”) is a labor union with

approximately 300,000 members in the United States and Canada that primarily represents

workers in the hotel, casino gaming, and food service industries. Service jobs in the hospitality

industry attract new immigrants as they arrive and seek work opportunities in the United States.

As a result, UNITE HERE’s membership includes many immigrants who are temporarily

authorized to work in the United States, including through the TPS program. Haitian TPS

holders make up a significant number of members in locals representing workers in Florida, New

Orleans, Atlantic City, and New York City. Those members and the employees who work with

them will be impacted by the termination of Haiti’s TPS program.

National Nurses United (“NNU”) is a labor union that represents 250,000 registered

nurses (“RNs”) in the United States. NNU’s members work in acute-care hospitals and other

health care facilities across the nation. NNU’s RN members work side-by-side with a wide

variety of ancillary health care workers including certified nursing assistants, licensed vocational

nurses, technicians, and other support staff, among whom Haitian TPS holders are well

represented. NNU will be harmed by DHS’s termination decision because the abrupt departure

of these valued coworkers will exacerbate the workload faced by already understaffed and

overworked RNs, particularly in geographies such as Florida and New York.

The International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (“BAC”) represents

70,000 workers in the masonry trades across the United States and Canada. These skilled

craftworkers include bricklayers, stone and marble masons, cement masons, plasterers,

tilesetters, terrazzo and mosaic workers, and pointers/cleaners/caulkers. BAC’s industry and

membership include Haitian TPS holders.

The International Union of Electrical Workers-Communications Workers of

America (“IUE-CWA”) is the Industrial Division of the Communications Workers of America.

The Union represents 40,000 workers across the country in a wide range of manufacturing

industries. IUE-CWA represents employees in at least one factory in the Mid-Atlantic where a

significant number of members are Haitian TPS holders. IUE-CWA’s bargaining units across

the nation have already been harmed by DHS’s decision to abruptly terminate parole programs

earlier this year, leading to sizable discharges in a field already facing a workforce shortage.

This situation will be exacerbated if Haitian TPS holders are also compelled to exit the

workforce.

INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT

Amici are the AFL-CIO, America’s largest federation of labor unions, together with ten

of the AFL-CIO’s affiliated unions, collectively representing millions of workers across a wide

spectrum of industries, including healthcare, education, manufacturing, food processing,

hospitality, transportation infrastructure, and construction. In each of these sectors, our

hardworking membership is comprised of American citizens and non-citizens alike, who work

together to make this country run. Prominent among our non-citizen members are thousands of

TPS holders from Haiti.

Some of these Haitian TPS holders have been employment-authorized incident to their

status for 16 years, following Haiti’s initial designation in the aftermath of the destructive 2010

earthquake that took over a hundred thousand lives. See DHS, “Designation of Haiti for

Temporary Protected Status,” 75 Fed. Reg. 3476 (Jan. 21, 2010). Others have arrived more

recently as a result of what DHS in 2024 called “simultaneous economic, security, political, and

health crises” following the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise—crises that have

left the country virtually ungovernable over the last four years. DHS, “Extension and

Redesignation of Haiti for Temporary Protected Status,” 89 Fed. Reg. 54484, 54487 (July 1,

2024). All are valued members of our unions who have offered their considerable skills to

professions that provide essential services to the public. And—given the “extraordinary and

temporary” conditions prevailing in Haiti today, where gangs have taken the place of the

government, over half of the country suffers from food insecurity, and outbreaks of preventable

diseases such as cholera have become commonplace—none can “return[] to [their home country]

in safety.” 8 U.S.C. § 1254a(b)(1)(C).

As the district court correctly held in its exhaustive opinion, this manner of proceeding is

contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious. The best reading of the TPS statute requires DHS

to base any decisions concerning the termination or extension of TPS designations on a review of

in-country conditions concerning the humanitarian situation in the designated foreign state, not

solely on a malleable consideration of the “national interest.” That was not done here. And,

though the factors that could potentially be incorporated into a “national interest” analysis are

indeed broad, DHS must nevertheless engage in reasoned decisionmaking under the

Administrative Procedure Act. It thus cannot “entirely fail[] to consider an important aspect of

the problem, offer[] an explanation for its decision that runs counter to the evidence before the

agency, or is so implausible that it could not be ascribed to a difference in view or the product of

agency expertise.” Motor Vehicle Mfrs. Ass’n v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 463 U.S. 29, 43

(1983). As the district court aptly demonstrated, the Termination Notice flunks this test. See

App. 58a–63a.

Amici write primarily to highlight one particular aspect of the Termination Notice that

underscores its arbitrariness—its deficient treatment of the workforce and economic impacts of

DHS’s actions. Simply put, allowing termination of Haiti TPS to take effect while the case

proceeds through the normal course of litigation will remove hundreds of thousands of

workers—including union members—from the workforce in one fell swoop. This drastic action

would have disastrous effects on the U.S. labor market and economy, contrary to the public

interest. Though Secretary Noem purported to consider—among other issues—“economic

considerations” including “adverse effects on U.S. workers” in making her “national interest”

determination, 90 Fed. Reg. at 54735, the Termination Notice lacks any real-world information

on the workforce impact that removing hundreds of thousands of work-authorized Haitian TPS

holders will have on industries that are core to our Nation’s economic health. See also App. 63a

(finding that Secretary Noem “never considered whether . . . benefits [relating to Haiti TPS

holders’ participation in the workforce] exist at all”).

Had the Secretary deigned to engage in any fact-finding to support her unreasoned

conclusion, she would have discovered that, rather than protecting U.S. workers, mass layoffs of

Haitian TPS holders will exacerbate labor shortages, undermine U.S. workers’ terms and

conditions of employment by requiring them to work more hours, and deteriorate the quality of

services for patients, consumers, and the public. Thus, her apparent conclusion that terminating

Haiti’s TPS designation would serve the “national interest” because of its impact on the U.S.

workforce bears all the hallmarks of arbitrariness set forth in State Farm. Instead, the public

interest, including that of America’s workers, weighs heavily in favor of a stay of agency action,

which the district court correctly granted. The same considerations apply here. Accordingly,

this Court should deny the Government’s emergency application for a stay.

ARGUMENT

DHS’s Decision to Terminate Haiti’s TPS Designation Will Harm, Not Help,

U.S. Workers

Removing Haiti TPS holders from the workforce would severely harm U.S.

workers and the economy.

If allowed to take effect, DHS’s decision to terminate Haiti’s TPS designation will push

hundreds of thousands of workers out of the formal labor market. In many sectors crucial to our

economy and our society, this will be disastrous for U.S. workers. The district court agreed,

finding that termination of Haiti’s TPS designation would seriously harm U.S. workers and the

overall economy. App. 79a–80a. Indeed, many employers will predictably seek to fill this

artificial and deliberately-generated labor shortage by requiring remaining workers to work

mandatory overtime to meet their staffing needs, diminishing U.S. workers’ quality of life, and

leading to increased occupational injuries. Other employers will simply be unable to maintain a

necessary level of production or services. They will thus be compelled to lay off U.S. workers—

or even to close down.

The Termination Notice does not consider any of these real-world consequences of

expelling hundreds of thousands of people from their jobs overnight. Instead, it references

purported “adverse effects on U.S. workers” that would occur if Haiti’s TPS designation were

extended, and asserts that people who overstay nonimmigrant visas “can place an added strain on

local communities by . . . competing in an already limited job market.” 90 Fed. Reg. at 54735–

36. The Termination Notice, however, does not make any factual findings in support of these

determinations with regard to Haiti TPS holders. Instead, it appears to imply that the mere

presence of lawfully-authorized Haitian immigrant workers in the workforce per se harms their

non-immigrant colleagues. That assumption is baseless and contradicted by a bevy of economic

data relating to Haitian immigrants generally, and TPS holders specifically, as well as by amici’s

experience across a wide variety of sectors of the economy.

This has two implications for this case. First, this Court must determine whether the

Government has met its “especially heavy” burden of showing irreparable injury to receive

emergency relief when a court of appeals has already denied a motion for a stay of a district

court’s judgment. Edwards v. Hope Med. Grp. For Women, 512 U.S. 1301, 1302 (1994) (Scalia,

J., in chambers) (quotation omitted). We agree with the Miot plaintiffs that the Government

cannot show anything close to irreparable harm in this case. To the contrary, the balance of

equities demonstrates that preventing significant harm to other U.S. workers—as well as to the

consumers and patients who benefit from Haitian TPS holders’ labor—weighs heavily in favor

of denying the Government’s motion for a stay.

And, second, to the extent that any portion of Secretary Noem’s “national interest”

determination relies on unsubstantiated assertions about harms that would befall U.S. workers as

a result of an extension of Haiti’s TPS designation, such a determination is arbitrary and

capricious in the most literal sense of the term. It is based on no evidence at all and contradicted

by both abundant evidence in the public record and by amici’s experiences as the leading

representatives of U.S. workers in a whole host of sectors where Haitian TPS holders are

employed.

The district court recognized the seriousness of these consequences and determined that a

stay is in the public interest given “the critical roles that Haitian TPS holders play in workplaces

across the country.” App. 79a. The court acknowledged that these workers “fill labor shortages

in essential industries” like healthcare, hospitality, food service, education, and manufacturing—

sectors “that already face labor shortages and would be further destabilized by the loss of this

workforce.” Id. at 79a–80a. It also recognized the “drastic impact” that removing Haiti TPS

holders would have “on co-workers’ workload and patient care quality.” Id. at 80a. In part

because of the “indispensable roles” that Haiti TPS holders play in the U.S. economy, and

without any contrary support provided by the Government, the court correctly determined that

the public interest warrants a stay. Id.

Insight from amici shows that staying the district court’s order would cause

significant harm to U.S. workers and the economy.

The experience of amici demonstrates the ways that the mass expiration of Haiti TPS will

touch almost all aspects of our economy and all strata of our workforce. Amici provide the Court

with insight regarding five particular sectors—healthcare, hospitality, food production,

manufacturing, and construction—to show how allowing for the termination of Haiti TPS while

the Government’s appeal is pending would significantly harm U.S. workers and the public

interest.

Haitian immigrants work across our nation in a variety of occupations, but have made

particular contributions in the healthcare sector. As of 2021, the 103,000 Haitian healthcare

workers comprised the sixth-largest immigrant group in this field, 2 where the demand for labor is

Beatrice Dain & Jeanne Batalova, “Haitian Immigrants in the United States,” Migration Policy

Institute (Nov. 8, 2023), https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/haitian-immigrants-unitedstates-2022.

high and understaffing and overwork is already the norm. And, because Haitian immigrants are

highly concentrated, with almost 66% residing in just three metropolitan areas—Miami, New

York City, and Boston 3—suddenly removing Haitian TPS holders would have a drastic impact

on their co-workers’ workload and on the quality of patient care.

In the hospital setting, registered nurses who are members of NNU work alongside other

hospital workers who are vital to the safe delivery of patient care. If thousands of hospital

workers were suddenly unavailable to work because their work authorization was terminated,

RNs, their patients, and their communities would be severely impacted.

When the number of ancillary staff such as certified nursing assistants, licensed

vocational nurses, technicians, environmental service workers, and food service workers is

reduced, then RNs are left to pick up the slack, putting an increased burden on an already

understaffed and overworked RN workforce throughout Florida and New York. Instead of

caring for patients, RNs will be forced out of necessity to distribute meal trays, answer phones,

perform housekeeping duties, transport patients, and spend additional time assisting patients with

daily living activities like bathing, dressing, grooming and toileting that would otherwise be

performed by nursing assistants. This in turn will lead to extended wait times for emergency

room admissions, delayed blood draws, delays in administering medications and in responding to

call lights when patients need immediate assistance.

SEIU represents thousands of healthcare workers across New Jersey, New York, and

Boston, and confirms that termination of Haiti TPS would create a crisis in the already

Id.

understaffed hospital and home healthcare industries. This would include the loss of an

estimated 500 members who are nurses in New York and Boston, and 3,000 or more members

who are home healthcare workers in New York. The sudden loss of these workers would have a

particularly significant impact in home healthcare, where understaffing is especially severe and

Haiti TPS holders make up 5% of SEIU’s 60,000 New York home healthcare members.

Employers would be forced to mandate overtime which, in home healthcare, means working two

8-hour back-to-back shifts, seven days in a row, risking heightened fatigue, injury, burnout, and

further loss of staff. Across the healthcare sector, patient care would suffer: staffing shortages

are closely linked with slower response times, reduced assistance with daily needs, and weaker

infection control. These consequences would have a noticeable effect in home healthcare, where

the provider is sometimes the only person the patient ever sees. Reduced staffing would

drastically impair the relationships and consistency that are critical to the care of home

healthcare patients.

The nursing home industry that serves our nation’s seniors will be affected even more

directly. Even with Haitian TPS holders present in the nursing home workforce, where they

make up a substantial portion of entire departments, 4 the industry continues to experience

significant challenges, including short-staffing, high turnover, and staff burnout. 5 In addition to

SEIU reports that, in some nursing homes where it has members, Haiti TPS holders make up a

substantial portion of entire departments, particularly in housekeeping, dietary, laundry, and

direct care.

See Dee Gill, “Codifying the Nursing Home Industry’s Elusive, Alarming Turnover Rates,”

UCLA Anderson Rev. (2021), https://anderson-review.ucla.edu/codifying-the-nursing-homeindustrys-elusive-alarming-turnover-rates/ (“Averages . . . for turnover at nursing homes are . . .

140.7% for RNs, 114.1% for LPNs, 129.1% for CNAs—because some nursing homes have

annual turnover exceeding 300%.”); Elizabeth Trovall, “Trump administration’s ending of TPS

for Haitians accelerates staffing crunch in elder care,” Marketplace (Jan. 15, 2026),

contributing to exacting working conditions for healthcare workers, these challenges lead to

negative outcomes for patient care. Removing tens of thousands of qualified workers with

Haitian TPS from this crucial sector will exacerbate the situation, further overburdening the

workers that remain, compromising care for existing patients, and reducing capacity to admit

additional patients. 6

Those representing the industry whole-heartedly agree on this point. For instance,

LeadingAge, which represents over 5,400 non-profit senior care providers nationwide, wrote a

letter to Secretary Noem in April 2025 emphasizing the effects that the termination of Haiti’s

TPS designation would have on their sector. 7 Canvassing its members, LeadingAge reported

that many providers expected to suffer significant job loss. One senior living community in

South Florida noted a likely loss of 35 employees, including “skilled and difficult to replace staff

https://www.marketplace.org/story/2026/01/15/end-of-tps-for-haitians-could-devastate-eldercare (“[The] industry depends on Haitian and other foreign-born workers as it faces a deficit of

caregivers and other workers. This year, more U.S. elder care facilities have had to downsize

due to staffing shortages despite growing demand … .”).

UFCW, which represents more than 11,000 nursing home and assisted-living workers

nationwide, confirms the same. It notes that strict credential and eligibility requirements in the

industry make it difficult to quickly hire replacement workers. One UFCW business

representative in Florida warns that ending TPS would cause longer response times to call lights

and would therefore increase the risk of injuries and falls among patients. Local unions in the

Greater New York region expressed concern that employers may lower their hiring standards to

find new staff, potentially compromising the quality of care and patient safety.

Letter from Katie Smith Sloan, President & CEO of LeadingAge, to DHS Secretary Kristi

Noem (Apr. 30, 2025), available at https://leadingage.org/wpcontent/uploads/2025/04/LeadingAge-to-DHS-re-TPS-and-Parole-4.30.25.pdf (“LeadingAge

Letter”). At that time, Secretary Noem had issued a “partial vacatur” of DHS’s 2024 designation

of TPS, purporting to shorten the length of that designation from February 2026 to August 2025.

DHS, “Partial Vacatur of 2024 Temporary Protected Status Decision for Haiti,” 90 Fed. Reg.

10511 (Feb. 24, 2025). All of the points in LeadingAge’s letter are equally applicable to the

November 28, 2025 Termination Notice.

members such as certified nursing assistants and dietary aides.” 8 In Pennsylvania, a provider

reported the likely loss of 30 Haitian employees; for a Virginia provider, that number climbed to

60. 9 Noting that “[s]ome of the affected employees have been in their roles for a decade or

more,” LeadingAge concluded that “[t]he sudden loss of these individuals risks unsettling care

routines, diminishing quality of care, and causing distress among residents who depend on

familiar, stable support in their daily lives.” 10 Additional senior care providers in Florida and

Massachusetts have gone on the record to emphasize the similar strain that the loss of Haiti TPS

workers would have on their facilities. 11

According to an August 2025 report covering the health sector in Massachusetts, nursing

home industry groups estimate that nearly 2,000 caregivers across the state would be discharged

due to the termination of Haiti’s TPS designation, with some facilities bracing to lose up to 20%

of their staff. 12 In that month, a rehabilitation and skilled care facility in Boston reported that the

facility would lose 40% of its dietary aides and 15% of its certified nursing assistants if

LeadingAge Letter, supra n.7.

Id.

Miriam Jordan, “Haitians Are Vital to U.S. Health Care. Many Are About to Lose Their Right

to Work,” N.Y. Times (Jan. 29, 2026), https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/29/us/trump-tpshaitians-health-care-job-losses.html; Simón Rios, “In meeting with members of Congress,

Haitians voice fears of losing legal status next month,” WBUR (Jan. 21, 2026),

https://www.wbur.org/news/2026/01/21/congress-haitians-pressley-boston-tps-trump.

Simón Rios, “As Legal Status is Set to End for Many Haitians, Mass. Health Care Sector

Braces for Staffing Shortages,” WBUR (Aug. 7, 2025),

https://www.wbur.org/news/2025/08/07/haitians-tps-massachusetts-trump-health-care.

termination of Haiti TPS took effect. 13 This would only exacerbate the impact of an increased

number of elder care facilities downsizing in 2025 “due to staffing shortages despite growing

demand.” 14 The loss of these valuable union workers would not only affect patient care. It

would also affect the terms and conditions of employment of U.S. workers in the bargaining unit,

who would be asked to “do more with less” in grueling work environments characterized by

unsustainable patient-to-caregiver ratios.

The effect of the loss of Haiti TPS holders in the healthcare industry is perhaps most

poignantly demonstrated by the stories of individual union members. During the COVID-19

pandemic, many of SEIU’s home healthcare members would continue visiting their clients when

no one else would, and these members would often prepare meals for their clients for the days

that they weren’t there. SEIU’s Haiti TPS holders are also leaders in their workplaces. A

longtime nursing assistant in one facility serves as a shop steward for the union—this member

mentors new hires and helps raise patient safety concerns to the facility’s management. Another

member, a dietary worker, trains new staff and ensures residents with specialized dietary needs

receive appropriate meals. Coworkers rely on these members for technical knowledge and

language support. Losing workers like these would create operational and leadership gaps in a

severely understaffed system where this critical knowledge cannot be quickly replaced.

Many Haitian TPS holders are employed in the hospitality sector—a field that has also

experienced chronic labor shortages. For instance, UNITE HERE’s South Florida local reports

that Haitian TPS holders are present in all of its bargaining units, with over 100 alone working

Rios, supra, n.12.

Trovall, supra, n.5.

for concessionaires at the Fort Lauderdale Airport. If they were terminated, this would lead to a

serious effect on the local union’s members, both in the amount of work distributed among them,

as well as the chilling effect on members’ willingness to organize and assert their rights at work.

The same is true of UNITE HERE’s membership in New Orleans, approximately 100 of

whom are Haitian TPS holders, largely at one of two major hotels. UNITE HERE estimates that

one of these hotels would stand to lose 75% of its housekeeping staff. As a result, remaining

workers will be forced to work overtime as well as increase the number of rooms they are

expected to clean. Even with overtime, it is unlikely that the remaining workers will be able to

handle the excess workload. If the hotel is unable to meet demand for housekeeping services, it

will likely be forced to pause room reservations or severely reduce offering housekeeping

services altogether, thus putting it at a major competitive disadvantage in the market.

Many Haitian TPS holders have been UNITE HERE union members for over a decade.

They are among the most senior and experienced workers on the job. Some are longtime shop

stewards or are otherwise regarded as natural leaders among their coworkers. For instance,

Haitian housekeepers have played a strong role in UNITE HERE’s ongoing campaigns in New

Orleans. They have led the fight to raise wages at union properties, have led delegations and

cafeteria rallies to demand respect from management and better pay, and are currently organizing

in a campaign for a new union contract. The loss of these workers will mean more than just the

loss of someone capable of doing the work—it will be the loss of years of experience, acumen,

and leadership.

In UNITE HERE’s experience, workforce shocks of this magnitude often lead employers

to turn to temporary staffing agencies to supply workers. Such labor agencies, in addition to

undermining the wages and working conditions for U.S. workers employed by the hotels by

paying substandard wages and benefits, often violate immigration law by hiring undocumented

workers. 15 All in all, UNITE HERE predicts that it will be harmed by a loss of members,

subcontracting of work outside the bargaining unit, and harsher working conditions for existing

members.

In food production, where UFCW represents several hundred thousand workers, the

effects of DHS’s labor market actions also portend to be dire. In Delaware and on Maryland’s

Eastern Shore, Haiti TPS holders make up a significant portion of the poultry processing

workforce, especially in sanitation, live hang, and de-boning. Losing these workers would

destabilize operations immediately, particularly because positions like live hang are notoriously

difficult to staff and are essential to keeping poultry plants running. Without adequate staffing in

live hang, employers are more likely to stop operations entirely rather than rely on mandatory

overtime from remaining employees. The ripple effect of closing these plants would result in job

loss for U.S. workers and economic harm to local farmers and surrounding communities that buy

the product.

The effects in meatpacking would be similarly devastating. According to the Meat

Institute—the lobby group for meat industry employers—approximately 20% of the country’s

meat processing workforce stand to lose their jobs as a result of the termination of several TPS

designations, including that of Haiti, and the Administration’s previous determination to end a

parole program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans (“CHNV parole”). 16 Large

Steve Eder, Danielle Ivory & Marcela Valdes, “The Hidden Truth Linking the Broken Border

to Your Online Shopping Cart,” N.Y. Times (Nov. 17, 2024),

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/17/us/immigration-undocumented-migrants-jobs.html.

Donnelle Eller, “Beyond Ottumwa: Thousands of Iowa, US Meatpacking Jobs at Risk in

Migrant Crackdown,” Des Moines Register (Aug. 11, 2025),

and mid-sized employers expect to lose up to one hundred workers at some facilities, with

facilities in Indiana, Iowa, and North Carolina expected to be among those most affected. As a

result, meat production is likely to decrease, disrupting supply chains and ultimately driving up

consumer prices. Meanwhile, the remaining workers will be expected to shoulder increased

workloads to keep up with demand. This would include a likely return to exhausting twelvehour shifts, seven days per week—schedules that had only recently been eliminated. One union

local in Pennsylvania reports that production lines or entire plants could temporarily shut down

and unsafe conditions would increase if employers were forced to rapidly hire inexperienced

replacements. These conditions increase the risk of fatigue-related injuries, jeopardize worker

safety, and disrupt family life.

UFCW can reasonably predict the effect that the loss of Haitian members with TPS will

have on its remaining members and communities based on the effects suffered by its bargaining

units following the rescission of CHNV parole. UFCW locals surveyed in the Midwest reported

over 500 terminations across ten bargaining units in three states with 175 of these occurring in

one facility alone. As a result, UFCW-represented plants implemented enhanced mandatory

overtime requirements as companies struggled to keep up with production demands while

operating with a reduced workforce. Short-staffing on the meat line also means greater safety

concerns for workers in an already dangerous industry; remaining workers at these plants

experienced increased injuries from excessive overtime. Finally, U.S. workers at nearby

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/agriculture/2025/08/11/trump-crackdown-onimmigrants-could-cost-meatpackers-20-of-workers-ice/85441314007. Notably, many of these

same workers had been designated as essential during the COVID-19 pandemic, when President

Trump invoked the emergency powers of the Defense Production Act to force meatpacking

plants to remain open. Id.

businesses—particularly those dependent on hide production—faced reduced hours and layoffs

due to the downstream effects of the decrease in production in one rural town. Several local

retail stores ultimately closed, and community leaders reported a noticeable decline in cash flow

following the loss of Haitian and other immigrant workers. The loss of Haitian TPS holders

from the poultry and meatpacking workforce will only exacerbate these conditions.

IUE-CWA presents a window into the effect that DHS’s termination is likely to have in

the manufacturing sector. IUE-CWA represents 40,000 manufacturing workers across the

country, including approximately 6,000 employees at a home appliance manufacturer in the

Midwest. Even before DHS’s decisions to abruptly terminate the Haiti TPS designation at issue

in this case, IUE-CWA reports that this facility had approximately 150 unfilled positions, and

had eliminated a shift due to lack of labor. As a result, the employer announced that it was

imposing mandatory overtime on all remaining workers, requiring them to work 9 hours per day,

until further notice, in order to meet its production needs. Following the rescission of CHNV

parole, the employer discharged almost 150 employees, causing the Union’s other workers to see

their working conditions further degraded by the need to meet the company’s production needs

with an ever-decreasing pool of workers.

As a result of the Termination Notice, IUE-CWA fears that a similar story will unfold at

two other plants where it has members. One manufacturing plant in the Mid-Atlantic employs

over 1,000 people who produce products for the residential energy market. Haitian TPS holders

are a large part of the workforce at this plant, which is also experiencing a labor shortage and

high turnover rates. Every other week, current bargaining unit employees are compelled to work

mandatory overtime. Bargaining unit employees who are authorized to work through temporary

protected status for Haitians are scattered throughout the facility. If those workers suddenly lose

employment authorization, the employer will likely need to reduce production, which could lead

to product shortages, price increases, and supply chain disruption for the residential energy

market.

Another plant in Southwest Ohio has over 800 employees helping to produce automotive

parts. Currently, around thirty bargaining unit members at this facility have TPS under Haiti’s

designation. This plant is also facing a labor shortage and high turnover rates, with new

employees hired on a weekly basis. The sudden loss of thirty employees would cause significant

disruption to the employer’s operations, affecting the other hundreds of employees at the plant.

Moreover, SEIU predicts a similar fate at a car part manufacturing plant in Ohio where it has

members. Haitian workers make up three quarters of this plant’s workforce. This plant is likely

to face a temporary shutdown or a complete closure if Haiti TPS is terminated.

Lastly, LIUNA’s experience demonstrates the snowballing effects of the loss of Haiti

TPS holders in the construction industry. LIUNA represents members with Haiti TPS who work

in construction in several states, including New York, Florida, Ohio, and Tennessee. One

bargaining unit consists of members who work as landscapers, arborists, general laborers, and

those who do construction, demolition and concrete, for a large entertainment venue in Florida.

More than 20 out of 900–1,000 members of this local union would be lost because of termination

of Haiti TPS, and in construction, the loss of this many workers at once has rapidly escalating

effects. Certain laborer projects are time sensitive; for example, concrete must be ripped up and

poured in the same day for it to dry overnight and cure properly, and it must be ripped up and repoured if not properly completed. When other workers have to step in and do the jobs of two or

three people because of the loss of co-workers, these types of tasks are harder to finish on time.

This creates a situation where scheduled inspections cannot occur, and other craft laborers—

ironworkers, electricians, plumbers, etc.—cannot start their work until the construction workers

finish their part of the project. Such delays impede consumer access to high-traffic areas of the

entertainment venue, making the company lose money. Not to mention, the crew loses critical

skills and training from workers who have been working alongside each other for many years.

The foregoing sectors are perhaps the most affected, but they are not the only ones—TPS

holders are 5.4 times more likely than U.S. born workers to work in building and grounds

cleaning and maintenance, twice as likely as U.S. born workers to work in transportation and

material moving, and play significant roles in a range of other industries including sales, business

management, and administrative support. 17 Amici represent many more Haiti TPS holders who

work in these other sectors: for instance, AFSCME represents a state employee who works for

the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, who, as a Haiti TPS holder, went through the

extensive vetting process to earn a commercial driver’s license that he needs to perform essential

emergency accident response and road maintenance services for the state. In the depths of

winter, for example, this member volunteers to travel outside his home county to work overtime

removing snow and ice, a critical service that all Pennsylvania residents rely on to

commute safely. UFCW represents hundreds of members who work at industrial laundries that

service hospitals and hotels in New England. One local union president reports that these

laundries stand to lose more than 200 workers if Haiti TPS ends.

In synthesis, DHS’s termination of Haiti’s TPS designation threatens to generate a mass

exodus of qualified, lawful, employment-authorized immigrant workers from the workforce.

Jesús Villero, Brendan Warshauer & Youran Wu, Brief: 550,000 Workers Lose Status By End

of 2025: Potential Impact By State And Industry, Penn Wharton (Nov. 19, 2025),

https://budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu/issues/2025/11/19/demographic-and-labor-marketprofile-of-tps-beneficiaries.

Amici’s experience across a variety of economic sectors demonstrates that this is not a boon for

U.S. workers or for the unions who represent their interests. First, unions shall lose dedicated

worker-leaders whose engagement and solidarity has led to the improvement of working

conditions for all. And the secondary effects shall be stark. As a direct result of DHS’s actions,

nurses and other healthcare workers will feel pressure to work longer hours to attend to more

patients, exacerbating the turnover and burnout that is endemic to the industry. Manufacturing

and food production workers will face forced overtime that degrades their quality of life and

renders them more susceptible to injury as employers struggle to keep production afloat.

Hospitality employers will be incentivized to turn to staffing agencies known to pay substandard

wages and benefits to meet their workforce needs. And construction crews will have too few

workers to meet critical deadlines, delaying large-scale projects and forcing companies to pay

more and rapidly hire inexperienced workers for hazardous projects that require high levels of

skill.

The balance of equities thus weighs strongly in favor maintaining the district court’s stay

of DHS’s termination of Haiti TPS, and therefore in favor of denying the Government’s stay

application before this Court. And, to the extent that workforce considerations played any role in

Secretary Noem’s determination of where the “national interest” lies, her failure to consider the

real-world impact of terminating Haiti’s TPS designation on U.S. workers renders it arbitrary

and capricious.

CONCLUSION

The Court should deny the Government’s emergency application for a stay.

Dated: March 16, 2026

Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Andrew Lyubarsky