Washington DC - Florida Congressman and gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds on Sunday claimed he is working to help stabilize Haiti after President Donald Trump put an end to Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian immigrants in the US.

During an interview on Sunday with the CBS show Face the Nation, anchor Margaret Brennan asked the politician about the move to get rid of TPS and how it could affect healthcare in his state.

Donalds said he has recently "had meetings with the transitional government and the ambassador for the transitional government."

"They're working on security forces right now as we speak to begin to stabilize Haiti, they've gotten about a quarter to half of the country under control from the gangs that basically took over Haiti," he explained.

US politics US territories slam Trump administration for massive Pacific mining plan

Donalds – a staunch MAGA Republican whose district has a large Haitian population – defended the president's move, arguing Trump's predecessor Joe Biden "took the T off" TPS, though the designation was not intended to last "into perpetuity with no end."

He further argued TPS creates the "wrong incentives to make sure that people can return to their home country, stabilize that country, and make sure that it returns to normalcy."

In 2010, former President Barack Obama granted Haitians TPS after a devastating earthquake struck the island.

In his second term, President Trump sought to strip the protections from the 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians in the US without required judicial review, but his efforts were blocked by a judge.

In June, the Supreme Court ruled to allow Trump to move forward, arguing his efforts were not subject to judicial review, and rejected claims that race was the administration's "motivating factor."

While campaigning in 2024, Trump and JD Vance vowed to nix TPS for Haitians upon winning the presidency.

They also aggressively sought to demonize Haitians, repeatedly pushing false claims that they were eating the pets of residents in a small Ohio town.

When confronted about the stories being false, both politicians doubled down anyway. When asked if he actually believed the story, Trump said he was "just saying what was reported," but went on to insist Haitians were "eating other things, too."

Politicians Tim Scott defends Darline Graham's disastrous "national security" gaffe

Vance had openly admitted the stories were false on several occasions, but urged MAGA to continue pushing the narrative anyway, and defiantly refer to all Haitians as "illegal aliens" despite legal status.

After wining, Trump kept the promises, and has pushed an unprecedented immigration agenda, sending federal agents to Democrat-run states and cities to carry out violent deportation sweeps.

According to a report from the immigration advocacy group FWD US, around 158,000 Haitian TPS holders lived in Florida as of January, contributing $2.6 billion annually to the state's economy.