A senior Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official confirmed in a sworn declaration that the Department of Homeland Security would have taken action to deport Haitian Temporary Protected Status (TPS) beneficiaries if Judge Ana C. Reyes’s decision had not stayed the revocation of the program.
The declaration, filed Tuesday, February 10, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in the case Miot et al. v. Trump et al., provides unprecedented insight into the Trump administration’s intentions regarding Haitian TPS beneficiaries.
Liana J. Castano, Assistant Director for Field Operations within ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), signed this declaration under penalty of perjury.
In the two-page document, referenced as Document 129 in the court registry, Castano states unequivocally: “DHS did not take action to enforce the termination of Haiti’s TPS designation on February 3, 2026, because the termination was stayed. However, if the termination had not been stayed, DHS would have acted to enforce the immigration laws in light of the termination, just as it has acted to enforce the immigration laws against past TPS holders based on other terminations.”
This admission confirms the fears expressed by immigrant rights advocates and Democratic lawmakers, who had warned that the end of TPS would immediately expose hundreds of thousands of Haitians to deportation.
Daily Operations in Springfield and South Florida
Castano’s declaration also addresses rumors circulating in the Haitian community about targeted ICE operations in areas with high concentrations of Haitian TPS beneficiaries.
“I am not aware of DHS having planned specific actions to mobilize members of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to areas heavily populated with Haitian TPS holders in anticipation of the termination of Haiti’s TPS designation on February 3, 2026,” Castano writes.
However, she indicated that “ICE is engaged in daily enforcement activities across the country in various locations, including but not limited to Springfield, Ohio, and South Florida.”
This specific mention of Springfield, Ohio, and South Florida—two regions that are home to significant Haitian communities—did not go unnoticed. Springfield has between 10,000 and 15,000 Haitian immigrants, while Florida is home to the largest Haitian community in the United States.
In her declaration, Castano justifies ICE operations by invoking national security and public safety.
“ICE operations are targeted to those who are removable from the country, regardless of nationality, with the end goal of enforcing the immigration laws to preserve the national security and public safety of the United States,” she states.
This language echoes the Trump administration’s usual rhetoric, which frames immigration operations as a matter of national security rather than as a policy targeting specific communities.
In her declaration, Liana Castano provided details about her role at DHS as Assistant Director for Field Operations, serving on a temporary basis from July 14, 2025, and on a permanent basis since November 2, 2025.
“I began my employment with ICE in 2006 and have held several leadership positions within ERO, including Interim Assistant Director for the Removal Division, Assistant Director for the Law Enforcement Systems and Analysis Division, and Field Office Director for the Washington Field Office,” she states in her declaration.
As Assistant Director for Field Operations, Castano “manages ERO’s 25 field offices as well as programs and initiatives to identify, arrest, prosecute, and remove removable aliens nationwide.”
The declaration was filed in the case Miot et al. v. Trump et al. (Civil Action No. 25-cv-02471-ACR), in which five Haitian nationals are challenging the Trump administration’s decision to terminate TPS for Haiti.
Castano states that she “is aware of the above-captioned lawsuit and the District Court’s Minute Order dated February 2, 2026.” She specifies that her declaration “is based upon my personal and professional knowledge and information, belief, reasonable inquiry, and review of information obtained from various records, systems, databases, and other ICE employees.”
Implications for the Haitian Community
This sworn declaration confirms what many feared: without Judge Reyes’s intervention, Haitian TPS beneficiaries would have been immediately exposed to deportation measures.
Representative Ayanna Pressley, co-chair of the House Haiti Caucus, had warned that “if TPS is not extended, we know that will put the Haitian community right in the sightline as targets of the rogue and racist agency that is ICE.”
Castano’s declaration appears to validate these concerns, while maintaining that ICE operations do not specifically target Haitians but rather “those who are removable from the country, regardless of nationality.”
A hearing is scheduled for Thursday, February 12, at 10:00 a.m. before Judge Reyes, where both parties will present their arguments as the case potentially heads toward the nation’s highest courts.
Liana Castano’s declaration, signed in Washington, D.C. on February 10, 2026, will stand as documented evidence of the Trump administration’s intentions toward Haitian TPS beneficiaries—and what could have happened without the judicial intervention of February 2.
