TPS Ends for Haitians, Bringing ICE Fear to Maryland’s Eastern Shore

Haitians on Maryland’s Eastern Shore are staying home, skipping church, and canceling community events after TPS ends for Haitians on July 27, 2026. The change has also brought new work-authorization problems and fear of ICE enforcement in Salisbury and nearby towns.

At the Word of Life Center in Salisbury, attendance fell by more than half during the first service after protections expired. The congregation normally draws more than 500 attendees. On Sunday, August 2, many seats stood empty.

Roosevelt Toussaint, the church’s senior pastor, said families were asking for compassion as they faced possible return to Haiti.

“We’re expecting you to have compassion for our people. They haven’t done anything wrong. All they came to this country to do is to work, to make a difference in our economy… There’s no security at home. If you really send us over there, you send us to die.”

The fear has reached beyond Sunday services. A bridal shower, a yard-sale barbecue, and English-language classes at the center were canceled as residents withdrew from public life.

Advocates and attorneys say ICE has summoned some Haitians for appointments where officers fitted them with ankle monitors. They also say officers told some people not to travel more than 75 miles from home. The Department of Homeland Security declined to discuss ongoing or future operations, while saying TPS is “temporary.”

The department has now moved forward after a court order. On August 5, Judge Ana C. Reyes of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia recognized that the Supreme Court’s June 2026 decision left her earlier injunction “no longer in effect.” That allowed DHS’s termination of Haiti TPS to proceed.

Work permits tied only to Haiti TPS no longer establish authorization

USCIS says employment authorization documents bearing the A12 or C19 categories are no longer valid when they rely only on Haiti TPS. The agency identifies July 27, 2026, as the effective termination date.

That change reaches workplaces across the country. Haitians whose only permission to work came through TPS need another independent immigration basis to remain authorized, such as a different status or employment document where available.

Employers must reverify workers whose authorization depended solely on Haiti TPS. They cannot continue employing someone without current authorization.

USCIS published the update on July 29, 2026. The agency’s notice addresses the employment documents directly, including the A12 and C19 categories.

Salisbury has become a focal point because Haitians make up approximately 10% of the city’s 33,000 residents. The community’s disruption is therefore visible in churches, classes, social gatherings, and local workplaces.

Families are changing ordinary routines

Patricia Grace Louis-Jacques, a nursing student at Salisbury University, described the fear through a conversation with her best friend. The friend asked Louis-Jacques to care for her infant if she were detained.

“From that moment, I knew things got bad.”

Viles Dorsainvil, executive director of the Haitian Community Help and Support Center, described the ankle monitors as “humiliating.”

“they put ankle monitors on criminals”

Advocates say some people have stopped appearing at community activities because they fear being identified or detained. Others have limited movement after reporting for required check-ins at ICE field offices, including an office in Blue Ash, Ohio, and regional offices serving the Shore.

Those reports describe individual enforcement contacts, not a published account of every operation. DHS has not provided details about ongoing or future activity.

Leila Borrero Krouse, an immigration specialist with CATA, said the policy was harming people who came to work.

“What this administration is doing hurts me so much because it’s inhumane… Most come to take jobs that others don’t want. And it’s heartbreaking to see how they’re suffering.”

The court ruling cleared the way for the termination

The Supreme Court’s June 2026 decision held that federal courts are barred from reviewing DHS decisions to terminate TPS designations.

Judge Reyes’s August 5 order applied that ruling to her earlier injunction. Her order confirmed that the stay was no longer in effect unless a later court action changes the posture of the case.

Haiti’s designation had protected people who otherwise faced removal while allowing eligible beneficiaries to work lawfully. The administration said TPS had become a “de facto amnesty program” and argued that conditions in Haiti no longer met the required “extraordinary and temporary” threshold.

Advocates point to different conditions. Gang violence and political instability continue, and 1.5 million people remain displaced in Haiti.

Roughly 350,000 Haitians nationwide are affected by the termination. Many have lived and worked legally in the United States for more than a decade.

Monitoring and departure offers add pressure

The Alternatives to Detention program had placed nearly 54,000 migrants on ankle monitors as of July 11, 2026. That figure compared with roughly 30,000 in September 2025.

The 54,000 figure covers the Alternatives to Detention program nationwide; it does not give a Haitian TPS breakdown. Local advocates, however, say Haitian immigrants have received GPS devices during mandatory check-ins.

DHS General Counsel James Percival presented the administration’s departure policy as a final warning for people whose status had ended.

“The T in TPS stands for temporary… It is closing time. You don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here. The good news is it’s not too late to get a $2,600 check and a free flight home.”

DHS is promoting the CBP Home app for voluntary self-deportation. The program offers the financial payment and airfare described by Percival.

Reports from Haiti’s National Office of Migration say weekly deportation flights carrying approximately 250 former TPS holders could begin in August 2026. The expected flights would add another pressure point for people weighing whether to remain in the United States.

Other immigration options depend on each person’s record

People in removal proceedings or facing enforcement may need counsel to examine possible relief, including asylum, adjustment of status, family-based options, or other protections. Prior filings, immigration history, criminal records, family relationships, and conditions in Haiti can affect the analysis.

Ending TPS does not by itself decide whether a person qualifies for another form of relief. It does end the TPS-based protection and, when no other authorization exists, the work permission tied to that designation.

The community’s next pressure point is employment verification. USCIS told employers to reverify workers whose documents depended only on Haiti TPS, while residents and advocates confront the July 27 termination in churches, schools, workplaces, and ICE offices.

This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Consult a qualified immigration attorney about your specific case.