WASHINGTON — A federal judge has halted the Trump administration’s deportation plan affecting 350,000 Haitians, and this judge has donated over $38,000 to Democratic campaigns, including one for President Joe Biden, who appointed her and is linked to the beneficiaries of this immigration status.
U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes issued a ruling that upset government officials and Republicans like Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), who criticized her decision as an “unelected Democratic judge” stopping a presidential action.
Reyes was appointed to the federal bench in February 2023, shortly after the Biden administration announced plans to allow up to 30,000 Haitians to enter the U.S. each month via the Humanitarian Parole Program.
Some Haitians arrived through the southern border, which includes at least one who was apprehended by Border Patrol in Texas. The Biden administration had previously made false claims regarding agents whipping these migrants.
Born in Uruguay, Reyes worked at Williams & Connolly as a litigator specializing in international disputes. She also dedicated time to refugee organization cases during her legal career. Notably, she moved to Kentucky with her family when she was young.
Reyes’ history of campaign contributions has been documented, revealing that since 2008, she apparently only supported Democratic candidates during her time at the law firm.
She notably made two $2,800 donations to Biden’s campaign in August 2020 and donated $2,700 to Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016. During Kamala Harris’s unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2019, Reyes also contributed $4,500.
Additionally, in 2019, she gave $200 to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shortly after Ocasio-Cortez’s own successful congressional bid. This aligns with the support for the “Abolish ICE” movement championed by many Democrats in those districts.
Moreno reacted strongly to Reyes’ ruling, suggesting it amounted to giving “permanent protected status” to all Haitian immigrants.
“We are not living in a democracy when a Democratic president can create a temporary program and an unelected Democratic judge can unilaterally prevent a duly elected Republican president from canceling that program,” Moreno stated. “This outrageous decision is unacceptable.”
Other legal actions have similarly blocked the Trump administration from rescinding protections for immigrants from Nicaragua and Venezuela, but those decisions were later upheld by appeals courts and the Supreme Court.
In her ruling, Reyes determined that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem lacks the authority to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which allows Haitian immigrants to stay and work in the U.S.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin countered on social media, stating that Haiti’s TPS was originally granted due to a natural disaster over 15 years ago and was never meant to serve as an amnesty program, although that has been the case for successive administrations.
The TPS program, active since the 1990s, offers humanitarian aid, work permits, and temporary legal status to immigrants from countries impacted by disasters or conflict. The program was extended to Haitians following the devastating earthquake in 2010.
Reyes’ ruling suggested that Noem may have sought to eliminate TPS “because of its hostility toward non-white immigrants.” Reyes highlighted that Noem has made decisions on TPS designations for several countries, including both those in distress and those that are not.
“Her conclusion that Haiti (a non-white majority country) is simply facing an ‘alarming’ situation cannot be weighed against the ‘perfect storm of suffering’ and ‘staggering’ ‘humanitarian sacrifices’ detailed in the administrative record,” the judge noted.
