A sweeping court order that halted the deportation of hundreds of thousands of Haitian migrants has ignited a political firestorm,<\/b>
\nA sweeping court order that halted the deportation of hundreds of thousands of Haitian migrants has ignited a political firestorm, putting the spotlight squarely on the judge who issued it and her history of political giving.
According to the New York Post, U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes, who blocked the Trump administration from revoking Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for roughly 350,000 Haitians, is now facing criticism from Republicans after records showed she has donated more than $38,000 to Democratic candidates and causes over the years.
The ruling immediately drew outrage from administration officials and GOP lawmakers, who accused the court of overstepping its authority.
Among the most vocal critics was Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), who argued that the decision effectively locked in immigration protections that were meant to be temporary.
\u201cWhen a Democrat president can create a TEMPORARY program and an unelected Democrat judge can unilaterally block a duly-elected Republican president from ever undoing it, we do not live in a democracy,\u201d Moreno said. \u201cThis outrageous decision cannot stand.\u201d
Reyes was appointed to the federal bench by then-President Joe Biden in February 2023. That appointment came just one month after the Biden administration began allowing up to 30,000 Haitians per month into the United States under a humanitarian parole program.
Before becoming a judge, Reyes worked as a litigation attorney at Williams & Connolly LLP, focusing on international disputes, while also providing pro bono legal work for refugee organizations.
Born in Uruguay, she immigrated to the United States as a child and grew up in Kentucky.
Campaign finance records show Reyes has donated exclusively to Democratic candidates since at least 2008.
During the 2020 election cycle, she made two maximum $2,800 contributions to Biden for President. She also gave $2,700 to Hillary Clinton\u2019s 2016 presidential campaign.
Reyes donated $4,500 to then-Sen. Kamala Harris\u2019 2019 Democratic primary bid and contributed $200 to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s congressional campaign in 2019.
Moreno and other Republicans seized on those donations following Reyes\u2019 ruling, which found that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem lacked the authority to terminate TPS for Haitian migrants.
\u201cSupreme Court, here we come,\u201d DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin responded on X. \u201cHaiti\u2019s TPS was granted following an earthquake that took place over 15 years ago, it was never intended to be a de facto amnesty program, yet that\u2019s how previous administrations have used it for decades.\u201d
In her decision, Reyes wrote that it was \u201csubstantially likely\u201d Noem moved to end the program \u201cbecause of hostility to nonwhite immigrants.\u201d
\u201cSecretary Noem has terminated every TPS country designation to have reached her desk \u2014 twelve countries up, twelve countries down,\u201d the judge wrote.
\u201cHer conclusion that Haiti (a majority nonwhite country) faces merely \u2018concerning\u2019 conditions cannot be squared with the \u2018perfect storm of suffering\u2019 and \u2018staggering\u2019 \u2018humanitarian toll\u2019 described in page-after-page of the Certified Administrative Record (CAR).\u201d
The TPS program, created in the 1990s, provides temporary legal status and work authorization to migrants from countries struck by natural disasters or armed conflict. Haiti was added after the devastating 2010 earthquake.
With similar rulings involving migrants from Venezuela and Nicaragua previously overturned on appeal, the administration has signaled it plans to challenge Reyes\u2019 order next.
\tIJR, Contributor Writer<\/p>\n