CHICAGO, July 1, 2026 — The National Restaurant Association and 12 of its state affiliates have asked the Trump Administration to allow Haitians and Syrians okayed to work in the U.S. under Temporary Protected Status to remain in restaurant jobs until the industry’s busiest season ends.
If the U.S. Department of Security does not grant what the Association has called “a transition period” of 90 to 120 days, the employees will lose their legal refugee status on July 1, the result of a decision last week by the U.S. Supreme Court decision.
The immigrants could then be deported. They would certainly lose their clearance to work in the U.S.
"Their departure could remove a substantial share of the local hospitality workforce overnight," the Association and its allies wrote in a letter to Markwayne Mullin, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). “The timing compounds the difficulty: July 1 falls immediately before the July 4 holiday weekend, in the middle of the summer season, when restaurants are managing peak demand.”
More than 354,000 Haitians and Syrians are legally living in the U.S. under the Temporary Protected Status (TPS). It is not known how many are employed in the hospitality industry.
The TPS designation allows immigrants from particular nations to stay in the U.S. while it is unsafe because of political considerations or a natural catastrophe to return to their respective homeland. The visitors often use the time to seek a green card, or approval to live and work in the U.S. as non-citizens.
The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that DHS has the authority to withdraw the TPS of immigrants from a particular nation. The suit in question focused on individuals from Haiti, which has suffered from repeated natural disasters, and Syria, which is recovering from civil war.
The letter to Mullin asks for “a defined transition period — for example, 90 to 120 days — before affected work authorization ends, giving restaurants time to get through the peak summer months... A short, orderly runway would give employers time to adjust without a sudden operational shock.”
The communication also asks that restaurateurs acting in good faith not be penalized by the federal government for inadvertent violations of immigration regulations or anti-discrimination laws.
In addition, the letter asks DHS to “quickly issue post-decision guidance that employers can easily use to ensure compliance.”
Simultaneous with sending the letter, the NRA issued a statement asserting that finding employees this summer will be difficult enough without the significant complication of TPS being revoked for Haitians and Syrians.
"This decision creates significant operational challenges for restaurant operators already facing a constrained labor market,” Sean Kennedy, the association’s chief advocacy officer, said in the statemen. “The sudden loss of legally authorized workers will disrupt staffing, increase costs, and strain restaurants' ability to meet consumer demand.”
The Association has projected that the restaurant industry will fill 250,000 summertime jobs this year, down from the 269,000 that were filled during the 2025 season.
“The industry’s prime labor pool – teenagers and young adults – is not as deep as it was last summer, which may lead to challenges filling some open positions,” the trade group said in releasing its summertime forecast.
Joining the national umbrella group in signing their names to the letter were the state restaurant or hospitality associations of Texas, Florida, New York, Ohio, Georgia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Wisconsin, Indiana and Delaware.