Judge reads death threats during hearing on Trump decision to end legal protections for Haitians

By SUDHIN THANAWALA, Associated Press

A federal judge used part of a court hearing Thursday to read email and social media death threats she received following her ruling blocking the Trump administration from ending temporary immigration protections for Haitians living in the United States.

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington refused to put that decision on hold. But before adjourning, she also took the unusual step of addressing some of the profane criticism and threats it engendered and defending the work of her judicial colleagues, who she said regularly receive such messages these days.

“We will continue to do our jobs as best as we know how,” she said. “We will not be intimidated.”

In a ruling last week, Reyes blocked the termination of temporary protected status, or TPS, for Haitians while a lawsuit challenging the Republican administration’s effort to end it proceeds. Her decision came one day before that designation for people from the Caribbean island nation had been scheduled to expire.

The Homeland Security secretary may grant TPS if conditions in home countries are deemed unsafe for return due to a natural disaster, political instability or other dangers. TPS recipients are allowed to live and work in the U.S., but the status doesn’t provide a legal pathway to citizenship. The U.S. initially ...