Democratic Congressman Gregory Meeks on Friday joined his Democratic colleagues in expressing profound outrage over what has been described as ‘shameful’ the United States Supreme Court’s termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for hundreds of Haitians and Syrians living in the US.
A wide array of legislators and immigration advocates on Thursday had strongly condemned the court’s decision. In denouncing the court’s decision on the Capitol steps in Washington, Meeks, who represents the 5th Congressional District in Queens, New York, said Haiti and Syria are still ‘dangerous, and these families deserve safety and the opportunity to legally contribute to our economy.
‘Haitians are an essential part of the Southeast Queens community,’ said Meeks, a member of the US House of Representatives’ Committee on Foreign Affairs. ‘They are our neighbors, coworkers, caregivers, small business owners, faith leaders, students and service members.
‘I will not stop fighting for permanent protections for these individuals,’ vowed Meeks, who will become the dean of New York’s House delegation on the retirements of his Democratic colleagues Jerry Nadler and Nydia Velázquez in 2026.
‘America is strongest when we stand for humanity,’ added Meeks, whose district, including most of southeastern Queens, comprises largely economically diverse African-American and Caribbean communities.
In the court’s 6-3 majority decision on Thursday, along ideological lines, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. wrote that the federal law at issue is unequivocal.
‘This text is clear, and its plain meaning is very broad,’ he wrote, dismissing claims that the Trump administration’s decision was based on anti-Black and anti-Haitian biases and discrimination.
He claimed that statements made by Trump and his administration were not ‘overtly racial,’ and that, ‘in substance, all expressed policy views could rest on race-neutral justifications.’
New York City Council Member Mercedes Narcisse, who was born in Haiti, said she ‘cannot safely return to it right now.
‘Yet the Supreme Court just cleared the way to deport 350,000 Haitians back to a country our own State Department calls too dangerous to visit,’ said the representative for the 46th Council District in Brooklyn, New York, flanked by fellow New York State and City elected officials and members of the labor union 1199SEIU, at a rally in lower Manhattan.
‘No one should be deported to their death,’ Narcisse added. ‘Extend TPS and create a pathway to permanent residency.’
Josue ‘Josh’ Pierre, a Haitian-born Democratic District Leader in Flatbush, Brooklyn, said the Supreme Court’s decision is ‘deeply personal.
‘It creates uncertainty for families who have lived, worked, and contributed to our communities for years while continuing to support loved ones in countries facing political instability, violence, and humanitarian crises,’ he told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC), stating that he stands with the Haitian community and every family impacted by the court’s decision.
Jennifer A. Holmes, deputy director of Litigation at LDF, said the US Supreme Court’s decision ‘puts hundreds of thousands of Haitians in danger of being deported to a dangerous environment against their will and against this country’s promise of equal protection for all.
‘We are deeply disappointed in this callous opinion from the Supreme Court,’ she added.
Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the largest and oldest civil rights organization in the United States, said the court’s ruling is ‘a devastating betrayal of Haitian families who have lived, worked, and contributed to this country for years – only to be cast out based on anti-Black immigration sentiment.
‘The Supreme Court has given the green light to deport over 350,000 people, jeopardizing their safety, all while ignoring clear equal protection principles,’ Johnson said. ‘It’s a shame that this is the America we’ve come to be.’