NYC dismisses Haitian employees who lost their TPS status, Mamdani says

Haitians who have lost Temporary Protected Status and worked for the New York City government have been terminated from their jobs, Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office announced in a statement Friday.

Mamdani spokeswoman Dora Pekec said "dozens" have been dismissed from their jobs. The terminations happened earlier this week, she said.

In the statement, Mamdani wrote that the dismissals were the result of federal laws that forced the city’s hand.

"The City of New York was forced by federal law, as recently decided by the Supreme Court, to review the work authorization of Haitian TPS holders and separate from any employees who have not established alternative paths to legal work," Mamdani wrote.

TPS is a federal designation that can allow noncitizens to live and work in the United States without facing deportation if they cannot return safely to their home countries, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

A June U.S. Supreme Court ruling prevented lower courts from blocking the Department of Homeland Security’s revocation of TPS for immigrants from certain countries. DHS announced it was revoking Haiti’s TPS designation late last year, and while that had been put on hold, a Supreme Court decision in late June allowed the Trump administration to terminate the designation, which it did July 27.

The end of the program for Haiti could send thousands back to the Caribbean island, which has been consumed by gang violence and political instability.

It’s unclear what the employees' positions were inside city government. 

Mamdani called the Haitian community "an indispensable part of New York City."

"Many of these TPS holders have lived here for decades. They fled earthquakes, famine, war and political violence. They arrived in New York and built lives, raised families, and started small businesses," he wrote in the release.

Mamdani also wrote that President Donald Trump could prevent the terminations by restoring Haiti’s TPS designation or granting Deferred Enforced Departure, which is essentially an informal version of TPS that can be authorized by the president.

"Doing so would provide immediate protection while allowing families, employers and communities the certainty they need — and demonstrate the importance of an immigration policy that is both orderly and compassionate," Mamdani’s news release said.

New York State had 98,250 workers with TPS as of late March, with most coming from Haiti and Venezuela, according to a study from Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Newsday has reported.

On Long Island, the change could mean a loss to communities and employers, particularly in the already short-staffed healthcare industry, Newsday has reported.

Haitians in New York who are affected by the TPS revocation can get "free legal consultations to assess eligibility for other forms of work authorization" from the city, as well as help navigating health insurance and other resource issues, according to Friday’s news release.

"Every affected employee is being connected with agency staff to understand their options, including nondisciplinary separation or resignation, pathways to reinstatement if work authorization is restored or another legal status is obtained," Mamdani wrote.

Newsday's Matthew Chayes contributed to this story.

By Sam Kmack

sam.kmack@newsday.com

Sam Kmack covers the Town of Islip for Newsday. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California and previously worked as a city watchdog reporter in the Phoenix metro area, as well as an investigative journalist at the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting.