Whitney had never been to Mexico but as of last month she's made it a home.
"I'm making the best out of a terrible situation," said Whitney, a Haitian immigrant who asked to be identified only by her first name to protect her family.
Whitney was one of more than 350,000 Haitian immigrants in the U.S with Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a program that allows them to legally live and work in the U.S. The Trump administration in November announced it was terminating the program but a federal judge on Monday blocked the move amid an ongoing lawsuit.
RELATED STORY | Judge: Noem ‘pounds X, not the law’ in bid to end Haitian protections
The ruling by federal judge Ana Reyes maintained protections against detention and deportation for current holders. While many are celebrating the decision as a victory, the future remains uncertain for TPS holders as the administration continues its immigration crackdown.
Whitney decided to take a chance elsewhere and moved to Mexico.
"I felt like I had more to gain by leaving than staying," she told Scripps News Group.
Whitney, who fled Haiti as a child after the 2010 earthquake and built a life in the U.S., left behind her mother, who remains in the U.S. on TPS, and her younger brothers, who are U.S. citizens.
"They might have to go to Haiti. And it's not gonna be good for them," Whitney said.
While the U.S. government says Haiti "no longer meets the conditions" for TPS designation, advocates decry the opposite. The country has been in deep turmoil since the earthquake, consumed by gang violence, political unrest, and widespread food insecurity.
"They are giving those families a non-choice," Guerline Jozef, a Haitian American human rights advocate and co-founder of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, told the Scripps News Group.
"It's only a non-choice because for Haiti specifically you have nowhere to go back to. And you have no way to go back to due to the current situation in Haiti," Jozef added. "You either deport yourself, you get deported, you deport yourself with your children, or you stay here and not knowing what's going to happen," .
Losing legal status would have left hundreds of thousands of Haitian TPS holders vulnerable to ongoing immigration operations. While the legal battle over Haiti TPS is set to play out in the courts, Jozef says there is still fear for Haitian immigrants under President Donald Trump's deportation agenda.
IN RELATED NEWS | Federal court temporarily blocks end of TPS for Afghans
"From Brooklyn to Springfield, from San Diego to Charleroi, Pennsylvania, from Miami to Indiana, we are seeing the level of trauma that I have never seen before," Jozef said. "And we are looking at hundreds of thousands of U.S. Born children who are at risk of being separated from their families."
In response to the court decision, the Department of Homeland Security said the Trump administration will appeal, stating, "Supreme Court, here we come."
Whitney, who now holds a visa and temporary residency card in Mexico, said she hopes to return to the U.S. one day. But for now, she's focused on building a life outside of the U.S.
"I don't have a choice but to look forward," Whitney said. "And when I come back, I hope that I am welcomed with open arms."
