Tipsheet

Mamdani Offers 'Free' Legal Help for Haitian TPS Holders

Dmitri Bolt
Dmitri Bolt  |  February 04, 2026 1:30 PM

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday announced, via social media, that the city would offer free immigration legal assistance to Haitian New Yorkers on Temporary Protected Status on the taxpayers' dime. 

This comes as part of NYC's already expansive government‑funded immigrant legal assistance programs, which already spends tens of millions of dollars a year on legal services for immigrants and deportation defense, and as the Trump administration is seeking to end TPS for Haitian immigrants.

"To Haitian New Yorkers across the five boroughs," Mamdani said in a video posted to X. "If you have temporary protected status, you've been forced to live in limbo for the last year, unsure whether this country would allow you to stay and build your lives with dignity. Temporary protected status for Haitians was set to end today, February 3rd. Last night, a federal judge temporarily blocked that termination while the case moves forward."

"But let's be clear, the federal government will appeal, and this temporary protection is not permanent. You deserve stability and safety, and New York City stands with you," the mayor continued. "Right now, we urge you to speak with an immigration lawyer and explore every possible legal pathway you may qualify for, whether asylum, adjustment of status, or any other path to permanent residency."

"New York City offers free, trusted immigration legal support, with services in over 200 languages. You can call directly by calling this number. City Hall stands with you."

This comes just one day after a federal judge temporarily blocked a Trump administration directive ending Temporary Protected Status for Haitian immigrants, a policy the administration argued was necessary because TPS had been stretched by prior administrations into a de facto path to permanent residency, in direct tension with both the program’s temporary designation and the original intent of the law.

Judge Ana C. Reyes of the Federal District Court in Washington argued that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem's reasoning for ending TPS for Haitians was flawed as it “focuses on Haitians outside the United States or here illegally, ignoring that Haitian T.P.S. holders already live here, and legally so.”

The Biden appointed judge also noted that “The mismatch between what the secretary said in the termination and what the evidence shows confirms that the termination of Haiti’s T.P.S. designation was not the product of reasoned decision-making, but of a preordained outcome justified by pretextual reasons."

"Supreme Court, here we come," DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. "This is lawless activism that we will be vindicated on. Haiti’s TPS was granted following an earthquake that took place over 15 years ago, it was never intended to be a de facto amnesty program, yet that’s how previous administrations have used it for decades. Temporary means temporary and the final word will not be from an activist judge legislating from the bench."