New York Attorney General Letitia James is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to preserve legal protections for hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Haiti and Syria, warning that ending those protections would disrupt families and destabilize communities.
James joined a coalition of 18 attorneys general in filing a legal brief asking the court to uphold Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for immigrants who have lived and worked in the United States for years.
The coalition argues that efforts to terminate TPS would have widespread consequences, including economic disruption, public health risks and the potential separation of families. TPS allows individuals from countries facing armed conflict, natural disasters or other crises to remain in the U.S. legally and obtain work authorization.
According to the filing, roughly 350,000 Haitians and more than 6,000 Syrians currently hold TPS nationwide, including thousands living in New York. Many work in critical sectors such as health care, while others own businesses or support local economies through taxes and consumer spending.
James said the move to end TPS threatens to strip legal status from individuals who have built lives in the U.S., forcing them to either return to dangerous conditions abroad or remain in the country without legal protections.
The coalition also warned that ending TPS could discourage individuals from seeking medical care or cooperating with law enforcement out of fear of deportation, creating broader public safety concerns.
Attorneys general from multiple states, including California, New Jersey, Illinois and Massachusetts, joined the filing, which asks the Supreme Court to maintain lower court rulings that have delayed the termination of TPS for Haiti and Syria.
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