US immigration authorities plan operations targeting Haitians as protections set to expire: Report

US immigration authorities are preparing to intensify operations to arrest and deport Haitian migrants as temporary protections for more than 300,000 people expire, CBS News reported Sunday.

Plans by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) include arrests in Ohio, home to large Haitian communities, and quickly placing migrants on deportation flights to Haiti, according to agency sources and internal federal documents obtained by the broadcaster.

The operations could begin as early as this week, though their scale and timing remain unclear.

The preparations come after the US Supreme Court last month backed the Trump administration’s efforts to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians and Syrians.

Migrants whose TPS expires lose their work authorization and become eligible for arrest and deportation unless they hold another legal status.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, told CBS News that it “does not discuss ongoing or future operations,” while urging affected migrants to leave the country voluntarily.

Any increase in deportations is expected to raise humanitarian concerns because large parts of Haiti are controlled by armed gangs and the capital, Port-au-Prince, remains highly unstable, the report said.

Created by Congress in 1990, TPS provides temporary work permits and protection from deportation to migrants from countries facing armed conflict, natural disasters or other emergencies.

Haiti was first designated for TPS following the devastating earthquake that struck the nation in 2010.