After Supreme Court bars protections, Florida's Haitians, Syrians face fears

Henry Fernandez, Tampa Bay Times on Jun 30, 2026

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Kéto Nord Hodges, a Hillsborough County schoolteacher, thinks of 1779.

That September, thousands of soldiers sieged against the British in the foggy swamps of Savannah. Nearly 550 of them were Haitian, members of a French infantry regiment of Black and mixed-race soldiers who were promised freedom at the end of their service.

As the United States celebrates its 250th birthday this weekend, Hodges, who is Haitian, wants people to remember that battle, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week in favor of repealing temporary protected status from Haitians and Syrians living in America.

“Haitians have always been willing to give their lives for the United States,” said Hodges. “That sacrifice has not historically been appreciated.”

Haitians and Syrians across Tampa Bay are now wrestling with the Supreme Court’s June 25 decision, which bars federal courts from reviewing and blocking the White House’s decision to end temporary protected status, a legal designation enabling immigrants and refugees from certain countries to stay in the United States in 6- to 18- month increments.

Immigrants with temporary protected status can stay in the United States, seek employment, and obtain an education without the threat of deportation. Incremental re-ups have led many to remain here for years, since there is no official pathway for them to obtain American citizenship.

“Many of them have been here for a decade and have really built lives here,” said Hassan Shibly, a lawyer at Muslim Legal, a Temple Terrace law firm specializing in serving Florida’s Muslim community. “They have U.S. citizen children. They’ve been paying taxes.”

Haiti gained its temporary protected status in January 2010 following a massive earthquake that rocked the capital city of Port-au-Prince and killed at least 100,000. More came after the country fell into anarchy following the 2021 assassination of former president Jovenel Moïse.

Congressional research data collected in March 2025 put the number of Haitians under temporary status protections prior to the decision at over 330,000.

The U.S. State Department has warned U.S. citizens not travel to Haiti due to “the risk of crime, terrorism, kidnapping, unrest, and limited health care.”

“It’s not an exaggeration to say that it is a death sentence for many immigrants who would be forced to go back into Haiti,” Hodges said.

Syrians were granted temporary protected status in 2012, after the government of deposed dictator Bashar al-Assad killed and disappeared thousands of protesters. DHS estimates from September put the number of Syrians under temporary status protections at just over 6,100.

Zein Salameh, a waiter at Rosto Grill & Café in Temple Terrace moved to Florida in 2024 with his father, an American. Salameh’s goal is to become a pilot, in the footsteps of his Syrian mother.

“I love America,” he said. “Here it is more better for everyone, if you want to study, if you want to be a doctor, if you want to be whatever you want to be.”

Salameh is conflicted about the Supreme Court’s decision. As a green-card holder due to his father’s citizenship, he has not needed to know much about temporary protection status, though he believes those doing the right thing in the United States should be able to stay.

“If you are a good person, if you are doing a good job here in USA, whatever you are — USA citizen, Syrian, Lebanese, Turkish — if you are doing a good job here, I hope you can stay here," he said.

Salameh believes that Syria will be safe once the transitional government implemented in March 2025 has fully taken control. Sectarian violence against the Alawite and Druze religious minorities there has led to the deaths of thousands.

“For Alawites and Druze, we can say it’s 60% safe,” said Salameh, who is Alawite. “The government ... she cannot control all the people. If you cannot control all the people it is not going to be that safe. When the people are controlled by the government and everything is all right, it is going to be safe for Alawites, Druze and every Syrian.”

Katsia Cadeau, a former professor at St. Thomas University and advocate in Florida’s Haitian community, says the decision, and prior attacks on the temporary protection status of Haitians, have already impacted Florida’s Haitian community.

“The community is hurt by that. It has affected our classrooms overall ... a lot of Haitians stopped coming,” Cadeau said.

“Our Haitian community, when they come here, I’m not going to say that everybody does the right thing,” Cadeau said. “But I would say 90% of them are doing positive things with their lives.”

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