Erin Jacobsen was texting a potential client, worried about the future.
The following day, Jacobsen, advocacy director and senior staff attorney at the Vermont Asylum Assistance Project, would see that worry deepen.
A June 25 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration could move forward with ending a program known as Temporary Protected Status for Haitians and Syrians. The program allows people from countries facing political instability, war or other dangerous factors to live and work legally in the United States.
The decision is expected to affect more than 350,000 people nationwide. In Vermont, it has left an estimated several dozen Haitians in the program unsure of their future, out of work and scrambling to secure other forms of immigration protection, lawyers, advocates and Haitian protected status recipients told VTDigger. While the ruling includes Syrians, immigration advocates in Vermont said they were unaware of anyone from the country impacted in the state.
“It’s exhausting, and it’s heartbreaking because they’re not the only one,” Jacobsen said, referring to the client, who is Haitian and has protected status.
Since January 2025, the Department of Homeland Security has ended protected status for several countries. While lawsuits have paused decisions for some countries, the designations for other countries, such as Afghanistan and Venezuela, have been allowed to end. Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark was among 19 attorneys general who in April filed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court challenging the Trump administration’s termination of Haitians’ and Syrians’ protected status.
Congress created the program in 1990, and it can be renewed in increments of up to 18 months if the Homeland Security secretary believes conditions are still unsafe. The administration has argued for the designations to be terminated because they say the program has extended beyond being temporary.
Haiti, which was designated for temporary protected status in 2010 after a catastrophic earthquake, is safe to return to, administration officials say. Advocates, however, say that the status has extended for Haiti because crises in the region have spanned several years and conditions are still unsafe. Program supporters also say that protected status recipients contribute greatly to the economy by adding to the workforce.
While the number of Haitians impacted in Vermont might be small, the court’s decision could have far-reaching effects beyond the Haitian community, with the recipients no longer employed in several industries throughout the state.
“Most people made a life here in Vermont, and they love Vermont,” said Yvonne Lodico, co-founder and executive director of Grace Initiative Global, a Vermont-based humanitarian organization. “So that’s kind of tricky for those who have fallen out of status.”
In recent days, Lodico has been fielding calls from Haitian protected status holders who have received support from Grace Initiative Global. She said she knows of seven to 10 Haitians who are in the state only on temporary protected status.
The Vermont Asylum Assistance Project estimates that Vermont has “a couple hundred” residents with temporary protections, which includes protected status and other programs. Those recipients, who have come to the state from Haiti or Syria, will have until July 27 — when the decision is set to take effect — to figure out other ways to stay in the county. While many are applying for asylum, that pathway can be narrow. Immigrants must apply for the relief within a year of arriving, and the process is often lengthy given the backlog in the immigration system due to the volume of applicants.
In the meantime, many are set to be out of work. Following the court’s decision, employers are required to fire Haitians and Syrians who had protected status and were permitted to work solely through the program. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently announced that the documents that permit temporary protected status recipients to legally work in the country will expire on July 10.
“I even had to prepare a memo for one employer,” Lodico said, describing the assistance she has been providing to Haitian protective status holders in recent days. “What will they do? Some of them think they’ll just stay inside.”
For one Haitian on the program in Vermont, who declined to give his name for fear of deportation due to ongoing immigration proceedings, going back to Haiti would be like “facing the death penalty,” he said, due to the violent gang-control the country has been under.
The recipient came to the U.S. in February 2024, fleeing dangerous conditions in Haiti, he said. With an engineering degree, he found work at Vermont semiconductor facility GlobalFoundries. That ended, however, when his work permit was cancelled this year. He has since been finishing his master’s degree and conducting research at a nearby university, with no steady flow of income.
“From August last year, when they were announcing that TPS was gonna get canceled every day, I didn’t know what to do. Thinking that you’re gonna lose your job, thinking you’re gonna have to go to Haiti, thinking what’s gonna happen, you’re stressed,” the recipient said.
Haitians in the U.S. have particularly been concentrated in the healthcare workforce, especially in elder care. Elected officials and advocates across the country have sounded the alarm that the decision will likely be a blow to that industry.
As the Vermont Asylum Assistance Project handles an influx of recipients looking for other options and support, Jacobsen said lawyers throughout the project have been meeting recently to “figure out how we can respond at the same time that everyone is also feeling the sadness and just how incredibly demoralizing this is.”
Lodico, the executive director at Grace Initiative Global, said her organization has already been focusing on Haiti, hosting workshops throughout the year that have highlighted resources for displaced people from the country.
Rep. Mary-Katherine Stone, D-Burlington, attended one of those workshops and said in an interview that the decision to end protected status for Haitians will not only harm the local economy but may also have “trickle down effects like increasing healthcare costs.”
In supporting protected status recipients, Stone highlighted previous legislative work focused on immigration, like a recently passed bill that restricts immigration agents’ access to schools. Right now, however, she said lawmakers are “scrambling and figuring out where to direct our constituents.”
Jacobsen, for her part, will continue working with Haitians in Vermont, including the client she’s been in touch with recently.
“I said, ‘Well, what time might you be available on Thursday?’” Jacobsen recalled telling the individual. “And they said, ‘Well, I don’t have a job now, so anytime you’re available, it’s good for me.’”
