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Ricardo Richardson returned to Durham from his annual visit to Haiti this month. Visiting family and friends in his village in Jean-Rabel gives him hope of retiring in Haiti after living abroad for 49 years, more than 20 of them in North Carolina.
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But escalating gang violence, limited healthcare and government instability makes returning seem doubtful.
Haiti’s unstable conditions have their origins in devastating natural disasters that have displaced millions. Since a 2010 earthquake, hundreds of thousands of Haitians fled to the United States through a humanitarian program called Temporary Protected Status, or TPS. The Obama, Trump and Biden administrations extended this temporary status for Haitians, though Trump tried to end their status in 2019.
The program creates a pathway for people from countries that are facing unrest, natural disasters and other extraordinary conditions to immigrate to the United States and stay temporarily until it is safe to return.
Despite the U.S. State Department’s “do not travel” guidance for Haiti, thousands of Haitians, some of whom live in North Carolina, could soon be returning after last month’s Supreme Court decision that allows President Donald Trump to terminate TPS for Haitians.
The decision comes after former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem moved to end TPS for Haitians in February 2025, but had been blocked by federal judges.
“President Trump and I are returning TPS to its original status: temporary,” Noem said in a press release at the time.
The press release said that removing TPS would help improve the nation’s “abused” immigration system.
Richardson, 68, has worked as a biology professor and director of the cancer research program at NC Central University since 2017. Richardson first moved to the United States in 1988 after university studies in Spain. Every Sunday, he plays soccer with members of a community group called Haitians of the Triangle, or HOTT. Many of the players, he said, have TPS.
“I have a lot of people in Haiti suffering but laughing, enjoying life the best they can. Despite the poverty and what’s going on, they are still smiling. I don’t know how they do that,” Richardson said.
Haitians with TPS have nowhere to go back to in Haiti, he said.
“That is the problem. And we’re all really scared about what we’re going to do to help some of our friends.”
Though the Haitian population in North Carolina isn’t as large as in some other hotspots like New York or Florida, the community has grown more connected through local organizations that plan events and create spaces for sharing resources and helping Haitians who are new to the area.
Marlyne Silver, a Raleigh resident and Haitian American who helps plan events with HOTT, said that she knows several Haitians with TPS who are anxious about discussing their legal status.
“They just never know which way it’s going to go or what can impact them,” Silver said. “They’re always afraid.”
About 13,000 Haitians live in North Carolina, but the number of TPS holders is unclear.
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An increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence has also added to this anxiety, Silver said. ICE conducted Operation Charlotte’s Web last fall, detaining more than 1,100 people across the state.
Rachel Bernard, an immigration attorney at Lopez Law Firm in Charlotte, said that increased ICE enforcement and immigration policy changes from the Trump administration have intensified her workload. In the last year, she said that she’s seen more Haitian clients.
Bernard, who is of Haitian descent and speaks Haitian Creole, said that her ethnic background has helped give her a unique perspective when working with Haitian clients, especially about potentially traumatic experiences.
“I know people who survived the earthquake — children who lost both parents or who lost a parent, and they had to be evacuated in an emergency to be here and be with another family member,” Bernard said.
Woodson Simon, founder of the Triad Haitian Community Association, said that he created the nonprofit because there was no one to guide Haitians coming to the state. Since moving to High Point, he’s seen the Haitian community grow, especially with TPS holders.
He and others that run the association are considering how they can gather resources to help people whose TPS may run out.
Wolf Pamphile, founder and CEO of Haiti Policy House in Washington, D.C., said that in Haiti’s current state, “there’s nothing to go back to.”
He added that some Haitians may have already been in the U.S. under another form of legal status and received TPS after the earthquake, meaning some have been in the U.S. for more than two decades.
“People have built full lives here, and these are folks who have no one back home,” Pamphile said. “And going back home would mean finding somewhere to live, finding something to do for work when there is no jobs.”
Unless someone has family or friends to return to, Pamphile said, they would be likely to live in a displacement camp.
Bernard said that some Haitian immigrants have already experienced difficulties with keeping jobs after the Trump administration expressed intentions to end their TPS last year. Because of the lack of guaranteed legal status, some employers eliminated some Haitians’ jobs, Bernard said.
On July 10, ICE extended work permissions for Haitians until July 24.
Some Haitian immigrants may not have to immediately return to Haiti if their protected status is terminated, Bernard said. They may be eligible for some other legal status, including through other humanitarian relief programs.
Richardson said that Haitians of the Triangle has created a community of support, especially by connecting people to professionals like lawyers, doctors and those that work in immigration.
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“We all try to help the best we can,” Richardson said.