People hold Haitian flags and signs during a rally in support of immigrants living in the United States with temporary protected status, or TPS, Thursday, July 9, 2026, in San Diego. Photo by Gregory Bull/AP A decades-old federal immigration program that allowed more than 200 residents in Vermon t to live and work in the state ends today, meaning many on the program will have to decide whether to stay in the country illegally or return to countries marred by violence.  “It is hard to imagine any human being choosing to return to a place that our own State Department describes as rife with kidnapping, gang activity, violent crime, terrorism, and poor health care,” Erin Jacobsen, senior staff attorney at the Vermont Asylum Assistance Project, wrote in a statement to VTDigger.  The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the program, known as Temporary Protected Status, for Haitians and Syrians in a ruling on June 25, though the decision did not go into effect until Monday.  In the past month, Vermonters on the program — and around 350,000 people nationally — have been scrambling to secure other forms of immigration protection, such as asylum. Many from Haiti who are in the state on TPS have either secured other legal pathways or are currently exploring them, according to Jacobsen. Those without that option, however, face the decision to remain and risk deportation, or return to the countries they fled due to dangerous conditions.  Yvonne Lodico, co-founder and executive director of Grace Initiative Global, a Vermont-based humanitarian organization, said that some Haitian protected status recipients she has been assisting are currently considering leaving the U.S. — but they are not planning to go to Haiti, due to the safety risks. She said her organization is working with another humanitarian group in another country to facilitate a possible move this month. She declined to name the other country until more details are ironed out.  “As much as I can stay inside, I will stay inside,” one Haitian on the program in Vermont said, referring to his apartment in Chittenden County. He declined to give his name for fear of deportation due to ongoing immigration proceedings.  The Haitian man has other possible immigration pathways pending, such as a green card application. But he said that because of the ongoing cases and a fear of being targeted on the street, he is forced to remain in his home.  After the Trump administration first announced it would end the program for Haitians in February, the man’s former employer, a Chittenden County manufacturer, canceled his work permit, he said. That’s made it difficult to find financial stability.  “I try to support them,” the man said, referring to his family still in Haiti. “Unfortunately, based on what happened after I lost my employment, I can’t help them.”  Following the official termination Monday, all employers will have to end work permits for those on the program, leading to a potential blow to industries supported by the immigrants, advocates say. Haitian protected status recipients specifically have been concentrated in the healthcare industry, according to industry leaders and national research. Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark, in a group of 19 attorneys general, challenged the attempted termination in an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in April.  “These are our neighbors, our coworkers, and our friends who came to this country seeking safety and the opportunity to build better lives for themselves and their families,” Clark wrote in a statement to VTDigger Monday. “Forcing these community members to return to countries facing extraordinary hardship is contrary to our values and hurts the communities that rely on and value these community members.” Since President Trump took office in 2025, the Department of Homeland Security has ended protected status for about a dozen countries. The administration has argued that the program, created by Congress in 1990 under Republican President George H.W. Bush, has extended beyond a temporary form of protection, and that the countries are safe to return to.  Haiti was designated for the program in 2010 following catastrophic earthquakes. The country has for years been engulfed in gang violence, and the U.S. State Department maintains a do-not-travel advisory due to violent crime, kidnapping and civil unrest.  Referring to Haitian protected status recipients in the state, Lodico, the director of Grace Initiative Global, said that “for many, their houses have been burnt, family members killed.” Read the story on VTDigger here: End of immigration program forces difficult choices for Vermont residents. ...read more read less