The Word of Life Center, a nondenominational congregation in Salisbury, Maryland, has experienced a sharp decline in attendance following the termination of Temporary Protected Status for Haitian nationals. Pastor Roosevelt Toussaint reported that Sunday service attendance dropped by more than half, from typical numbers exceeding 500 to significantly fewer congregants. Church activities including a bridal shower, yard-sale barbecue, and English-language classes were canceled as community members expressed reluctance to leave their homes.
The status termination affects approximately 350,000 Haitians who have been residing and working legally in the United States for extended periods. In Salisbury, approximately 10 percent of the city’s 33,000 residents are Haitian, many employed as farmworkers, caregivers, and in poultry processing facilities that form the region’s economic foundation. Following a June 25 Supreme Court decision upholding the government’s position, federal protections officially expired on Wednesday, with U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes lifting a prior stay that had blocked the termination.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has implemented enforcement tactics including calling individuals to offices for ankle bracelet fitting and imposing travel restrictions within 75-mile radii of home addresses, according to advocates and attorneys. Social media reports documented arrests at gas stations and outside supermarkets throughout the preceding week. The Department of Homeland Security stated that Temporary Protected Status was designed to be temporary and that it has functioned as a de facto amnesty program.
Community members face difficult circumstances, with some describing the situation as equivalent to severe crisis conditions. Those affected express fear of detention while attempting to maintain employment and family responsibilities. The termination also extends to approximately 80,000 Hondurans and Nicaraguans, creating similar anxiety within those populations on the Eastern Shore. Religious leaders and immigrant advocacy organizations have questioned the humanitarian implications of the enforcement approach, while administration officials maintain that conditions in Haiti have sufficiently improved to warrant status termination.
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