Homeland Security on Thursday unwound the Biden administration’s attempt to lock in 18 extra months of a deportation amnesty for Haitian migrants, saying it was an abuse of the system.

Secretary Kristi Noem revoked the decision by her predecessor, Alejandro Mayorkas, which had extended Temporary Protected Status for Haiti all the way into 2026.

Homeland Security said Mr. Mayorkas was trying to game the system and tie President Trump’s hands.

“We are returning integrity to the TPS system, which has been abused and exploited by illegal aliens for decades,” the department said in an unsigned statement. “President Trump and Secretary Noem are returning TPS to its original status: temporary.”

With Ms Noen’s decision Haiti’s status will expire this summer, barring a new reprieve.

TPS delivers a temporary deportation amnesty and some benefits, such as a legal work permit, to people from countries suffering from unrest, natural disasters, war or a pandemic.

The status is only supposed to last as long as it takes for the country to recover.

Haiti has been under a TPS designation since 2010, when an earthquake struck. It has been renewed repeatedly since then.

Complicating the situation was President Biden’s lax approach to immigration enforcement, which allowed hundreds of thousands of unauthorized Haitian migrants to enter the U.S. in recent years.

The result is that while just 57,000 Haitians were eligible for TPS in 2011, that number grew to 155,000 in 2021 and a staggering 520,694 as of last July — though only about half of those had actually applied for and formally received protections.

Ms. Noem’s decision doesn’t mean immediate deportation, and the Trump team could still decide to renew Haiti’s TPS designation on its own later this year.

But immigration groups were skeptical that will happen.

“Unfortunately, deporting Haitians, who have been here with lawful and legal status, back to a nation still in the throes of crisis will only fuel more chaos in U.S. communities and in Haiti alike,” said Vanessa Cardenas, executive director of America’s Voice.

She called Ms. Noem’s decision “an ugly and visceral reminder that the Trump administration is trying to make as many individuals as possible deportable.”

Ms. Noem had previously revoked Mr. Mayorkas’ attempt to lock in 18 more months of time for Venezuelans here under TPS.

That move by Mr. Mayorkas was part of a series of last-minute moves designed to try to lock in protections for migrants ahead of Mr. Trump’s inauguration.

Upon taking office, Mr. Trump ordered a review of TPS designations, with the Haiti and Venezuela ones serving as particular targets.

As of December, nearly 1.1 million migrants were living in the U.S. under TPS, according to the Congressional Research Service.

The oldest designations are for Honduras and Nicaragua, and date back to 1998. They cover about 60,000 people.

El Salvador has been under a TPS designation since 2001, with roughly 174,000 people covered.

Venezuela remains the biggest program, with more than 500,000 people protected.

• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.