The Trump administration is discussing a data-driven deportation strategy targeting Haitian immigrants now eligible for removal after a series of recent court victories, according to people familiar with internal discussions. Officials are exploring how to use data and targeting tools to deport the roughly 350,000 Haitians whose Temporary Protected Status was effectively ended by the Supreme Court’s June 25 ruling, the people said, cautioning that discussions are still in early stages.
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the president has virtually unreviewable authority to terminate TPS, a program created by Congress in 1990 that protects people who cannot safely return to countries experiencing armed conflict, environmental disaster, or other crises. The decision strips protections immediately for about 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians, and the administration can also end TPS for immigrants from at least 11 other countries designated under the program — up to 1 million people in total, according to the court’s opinion and WSJ reporting.
In addition to the TPS ruling, a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., ruled last week that the administration may expand expedited removal nationwide, a process that allows deportation without a court hearing for immigrants who cannot prove they have lived in the United States for more than two years. The Migration Policy Institute estimated that up to 622,000 people could be targeted under that expanded authority.
Together, the two rulings “expand the universe of people the administration can now target for deportation,” the WSJ reported, as the White House faces pressure to increase deportation numbers to fulfill Trump’s central campaign promise.
Administration officials are discussing a targeted approach to avoid a repeat of the political backlash that followed its enforcement operations, including a deadly enforcement operation in Minneapolis, according to people familiar with the matter. Rather than sending large numbers of agents into cities with substantial Haitian populations such as Springfield, Ohio, the officials are considering relying on data and analytics to identify and deport individuals with less visible public disruption. Even Miller, a White House adviser central to the administration’s immigration actions, has privately agreed in meetings that the administration needs to find an approach that does not include headline-grabbing raids, according to a person familiar with his thinking.
Mike Howell, president of the Oversight Project, an outside conservative group that monitors deportations, told the WSJ that the administration needs to move beyond targeting the “worst of the worst.” “To achieve mass deportations, you need to focus on quantity,” Howell said. “It’s time to move away from the ‘worst of the worst’ focus and broaden the aperture. They need to get the numbers up.”
Department of Homeland Security General Counsel James Percival signaled the administration’s posture on Fox News, saying that TPS holders have had years of warning. “These people have been on notice for nine years that this day is coming,” Percival said. “So, what we would say now is it’s closing time, which means you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.”
DHS declined to discuss specific operations, with a spokesperson saying the agency does not discuss “future or potential operations” for the safety of law enforcement.
Trump has publicly boasted about his deportation numbers on his Truth Social platform but acknowledged the political sensitivity of the topic, writing that he was “not necessarily thrilled to be talking about it because it does not exactly sound NICE.” In comments to reporters in June, Trump said he had wanted to highlight falling border numbers but was told by advisers that voters were indifferent. Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, said Trump remains “committed to fulfilling the immigration-enforcement agenda he was elected to enact” and that deportation efforts will increase with new funding and the recent court victories.
The administration’s accelerated push has prompted TPS holders and their advocates to seek ways to draw attention to their plight, according to the WSJ. Viles Dorsainvil, co-founder and executive director of the Haitian Support Center, who is himself a Haitian TPS holder, told the WSJ: “Families have started asking us questions that we are not able to answer. It is the saddest day of my life.”
About 52% of voters disapprove of Trump’s handling of immigration, while 44% approve, according to a polling aggregate from Cook Political Report.