On Aug. 20, the United States deported more than 160 people to Haiti on the first removal flight since the government ended temporary protected status, or TPS, for approximately 350,000 Haitians. That plane, which included some former TPS holders, landed in Cap-Haïtien rather than the capital Port-au-Prince, because continuing insecurity has made the airport too dangerous for U.S. commercial flights.

TPS allows eligible foreign nationals already in the U.S. to remain and work legally when conditions in their home country prevent safe return. Haiti’s 2010 earthquake, which killed more than 220,000 people and displaced 1.5 million , seemed to fit the model.

For 15 years, successive administrations renewed or redesignated Haiti for temporary protection. But this June, after a lengthy legal battle culminating in a Supreme Court decision, Haitians lost their protection.

Advocates and critics of TPS point to the same 15-year duration as evidence for their positions.…