In a formal statement dated August 30, 2026, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) — an independent human rights body of the Organization of American States — has voiced deep concern over the grave risks facing thousands of Haitian nationals after the official termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) by United States authorities. The alarm comes amid the catastrophic and ongoing humanitarian and human rights collapse that continues to grip Haiti, leaving the country unable to safely absorb returning deportees. First established under U.S. immigration law, TPS offers temporary legal protection and work authorization to foreign nationals already present in the U.S. when their home countries face extraordinary, unsafe conditions that prevent safe return. These qualifying conditions include widespread armed conflict, large-scale environmental disasters, public health emergencies, or other extraordinary temporary crises that leave the national government unable to accommodate returning citizens. The legal path to ending Haiti’s TPS designation cleared key judicial hurdles earlier this year: on June 25, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court permitted the termination to move forward, and a subsequent August 5 ruling from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia confirmed that the Department of Homeland Security had the authority to implement the end of the program. U.S. authorities officially marked the termination as effective July 22, 2026, concluding that conditions in Haiti no longer meet the statutory requirements to maintain the TPS designation. However, the IACHR pushes back against this conclusion, arguing that any assessment of conditions on the ground must reflect the current devastating reality of Haitian insecurity and governance failure. Today, armed gangs exert control over an estimated 80 to 90 percent of Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince, with their violent influence spreading outward into the Artibonite, Centre, and South-East departments. Data from the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) lays bare the scale of the ongoing bloodshed: between March 6 and July 31 of 2026, even amid ongoing security operations to reclaim gang-held territory, at least 613 people were killed and 375 injured in gang-related clashes in the La Plaine de Cul-de-Sac region, which includes violence-plagued neighborhoods of Cité de Soleil within the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area. The humanitarian fallout from this widespread violence is equally staggering. As of May 13, 2026, BINUH recorded 1.47 million internally displaced people across Haiti — equal to 12 percent of the country’s total population, a 1 percent increase just since December 2025. Women and girls make up 54 percent of this displaced population, while children account for 51 percent. Between the end of 2025 and mid-2026, authorities recorded 1,880 confirmed cases of gender-based violence, 71 percent of which involved rape and sexual assault. In its 2026 statement, the IACHR recalled its 2021 Resolution No. 02/21, which first recognized the multi-faceted nature of Haiti’s long-running crisis and called on all countries in the Inter-American region to adopt robust protections for Haitians on the move, rooted in core principles of equality, non-discrimination, international solidarity, and shared responsibility. The IACHR acknowledges that all sovereign states retain the authority to set their own immigration policies, establishing rules for entry, residence, and departure from their territory. But under binding international law and Inter-American human rights standards, the U.S. is legally required to uphold the peremptory norm of non-refoulement — a non-derogable rule that prohibits forcing any person to return to a territory where their life, physical integrity, or personal liberty faces a proven risk of severe violation. Beyond this core obligation, the IACHR emphasizes that all deportation and removal decisions must include individual risk assessments, uphold full due process guarantees, and guarantee applicants access to effective legal remedies. The body is calling on U.S. authorities to go further, reiterating that Washington should expand access to formal refugee status procedures and complementary forms of international protection for Haitians at risk. It also urges the creation of permanent, accessible, and affordable pathways to regularized migration status, including targeted humanitarian measures, expedited family reunification, and special amnesty and regularization programs for Haitians who have lived and worked in the U.S. for years under TPS protection. The IACHR is an autonomous, principal organ of the Organization of American States, drawing its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. Its core mission is to promote and defend human rights across the Inter-American region, operating as an independent consultative body to the OAS. Its seven members are elected in an individual capacity by the OAS General Assembly, and do not act as representatives of their countries of origin or residence.