U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes sat on the bench in Washington and, one by one, read into the record the death threats that flooded her inbox after she blocked the Trump administration’s move to terminate Temporary Protected Status for Haitians. She refused to put her earlier ruling on ice and told the courtroom, “We will not be intimidated.” Her order keeps protections intact for hundreds of thousands of people while the legal fight plays out.
At a hearing on Thursday, Reyes denied the government’s request to pause her Feb. 2 decision and shared excerpts of the threats, including an email urging her to “eat a bullet,” as a stark reminder of the hostility judges can face. As reported by AP, Department of Justice attorney Dhruman Sampat told the court the administration had no plans to target Haitian TPS holders for removal if her order were paused, a reassurance Reyes said did not meaningfully protect lives.
Temporary Protected Status does not create a path to citizenship, but it lets recipients live and work legally in the United States. The designation for Haiti began after the devastating 2010 earthquake. As reported by The Washington Post, roughly 350,000 Haitian nationals were covered when Reyes issued her pause. The status has been extended again and again as Haiti’s instability drags on, even as the Trump administration moved to terminate TPS for several countries as part of a broader immigration enforcement push.
Judge Details the Backlash and Personal Attacks
Reyes told the courtroom she had checked with colleagues before deciding to read the threats aloud, but ultimately felt it was important to lay out just how intense the reaction had become. According to the Los Angeles Times, she pushed back on personal insults that labeled her a “foreign-born lesbian” and responded by noting her Harvard Law degree and more than two decades of experience litigating in federal court.
Legal Fight Heads for a Fast-Track Appeal
The Justice Department has appealed Reyes’s Feb. 2 order and argued she has no authority to review the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to end TPS, setting up an expedited clash at the appellate level. As reported by AP, Reyes warned in court that it was “likely” law-abiding Haitian TPS holders who have been contributing to the U.S. economy would be picked up by immigration authorities and detained indefinitely if her order were stayed.
Community Braces for What Comes Next
Advocates and Haitian community leaders are calling the ruling a much-needed, if temporary, reprieve. At the same time, many families remain deeply anxious about what a final decision could mean for jobs and keeping households together. As reported by OSV News, organizers have held vigils and are pressing Congress to pursue more durable legal protections for TPS recipients.
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