US-based Haitians are buoyed but wary after a judge stops Trump from ending their protections

2 weeks ago 3

By LUIS ANDRES HENAO, Associated Press

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (AP) — Roudechel Charpentier moved to Springfield in 2023 to escape the violence in his native Haiti, enrolled in college and got a part-time job at a fast-food restaurant.

He’s been losing sleep over the Trump administration’s push to end the temporary protected status, or TPS, that allows him and roughly 350,000 other Haitians to live and work in the U.S.

Although a judge intervened Monday to keep the protection in place while a lawsuit challenging the administration’s order plays out, Charpentier’s driver’s license was set to expire Tuesday, and he’s worried he still might be forced to leave before he can graduate in May.

“Everybody is happy right now,” said Charpentier, an agriculture technology major at Clark State College. “Everything is not done yet because we don’t have the final decision on TPS. But the situation is much better than last week.”