Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell is taking legal action to block the Trump administration's attempt to end Temporary Protected Status for Haitian immigrants.

Campbell announced Monday that she is filing a brief urging the courts to preserve the block on what she called Trump's "unlawful termination" of TPS protections for the Haitian community.

NEW: I am filing a brief urging the courts to preserve the block on Trump's unlawful termination of TPS for our Haitian community.

Haitians are essential to the fabric of MA. Ending TPS would separate families, harm our economy & deplete our workforce. I won't stand for it.

— AG Andrea Joy Campbell (@MassAGO) February 17, 2026

Trump and Haitians: A history

The president has not been shy about his views on Haitian immigrants.

During the 2024 campaign, Trump made national headlines when he claimed that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio were eating residents' pets — specifically cats and dogs. The comments sparked both outrage and a wave of memes that dominated social media for weeks.

What is TPS?

Temporary Protected Status is a federal program that allows immigrants from countries facing armed conflict, natural disasters, or other extraordinary conditions to live and work legally in the United States.

Haiti has been designated for TPS multiple times due to devastating earthquakes, political instability, and ongoing gang violence that has made the country one of the most dangerous in the Western Hemisphere.

The legal battle

The Trump administration has moved to terminate TPS for Haitian nationals, a decision that would affect tens of thousands of immigrants currently living in Massachusetts — many of whom have built lives, businesses, and families in the state over the past decade or more.

Campbell's brief joins a growing chorus of legal challenges against the administration's immigration policies.

Massachusetts is home to one of the largest Haitian communities in the United States, with significant populations in Boston, Brockton, and other cities across the Commonwealth.

The elephant in the room

While Campbell frames this as a fight for families and the economy, some longtime Massachusetts residents are scratching their heads.

With housing costs through the roof, an opioid crisis that refuses to quit, and plenty of born-and-raised Bay Staters struggling to make ends meet — why does Beacon Hill seem to have more energy for immigration battles than for the folks who've been paying taxes here since before "TPS" was even an acronym?

It's a fair question, and one Massachusetts politicians might want to answer before the next election cycle.