The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Thursday that the Trump administration has removed half a million Haitians from temporary protected status (TPS), reversing a Biden administration move that had extended their TPS by 18 months.

Secretary Kristi Noem stated that she was following the true purpose of the policy and that she and President Donald Trump were returning it to its proper temporary purpose. She further claimed that the program was being abused and exploited and that it needed to be reined in.

TPS is granted to people from certain designated countries who enter the US illegally. It grants them legal protection to be in the US but does not set them on the path to citizenship. President George HW Bush began the program to aid migrants from countries experiencing widespread humanitarian crises and authority to determine who is eligible is vested in DHS. President Joe Biden previously extended the protection to over one million migrants during his administration, including migrants from Venezuela, El Salvador, and Ukraine.

Haiti has been going through extensive instability, with the UN warning that the nation is in need of international support due to the alarming rise in gang violence. There have been also been increased rates of sexual violence, attacks on healthcare, and massacres reported, making it impossible for many migrants to safely return.