Legal Clinics Help Haitian Families Apply for Temporary Protected Status, Work Authorization

De Novo’s Immigration Unit held five TPS legal clinics during the month of November, assisting more than 225 Haitian families in applying for Temporary Protected Status and work authorization.

De Novo is grateful to the many volunteers who gave their time and expertise to make these clinics possible.

In November 2024, De Novo held a series of legal clinics to help hundreds of Haitian families apply for Temporary Protected Status and work authorization. De Novo partnered with the state Office for Refugees and Immigrants and the Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA) to host the series of clinics, where dozens of volunteers, attorneys, and interpreters worked to assist the vulnerable migrants.

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a humanitarian status that allows individuals to remain in the U.S. and work because conditions in their home country, such as a natural disaster or armed conflict, have made it unsafe for them to return. While it is not a permanent legal status, TPS protects against deportation for a designated period and allows recipients to apply for a work permit. The Dept. of Homeland Security recently extended TPS eligibility for Haitians for 18 months to February 3, 2026.

The TPS clinics were just the latest expansion of our efforts to serve the urgent legal needs of newly-arrived migrants in Massachusetts. Earlier this year, De Novo was among the organizations awarded funding under the Governor’s Immigrant Assistance Services (IAS) Program to provide legal advice and pro se application preparation to migrants living in the state’s Emergency Assistance shelter system. Under the IAS Program, De Novo provided legal advice to over 150 migrants residing in shelters, with 74 receiving pro se asylum application filing assistance.

Special note: With the changing political landscape, we expect there to be changes regarding some information relevant to immigrants. As information becomes available, we will post it here. Please note, this is simply a collection of resources, not legal advice.