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NAACP Sues Homeland Security Over Haiti Immigration Policy

MIAMI (AP) — The NAACP has sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The organization says President Donald Trump's disparaging comments about immigrants and their home countries is evidence of racial discrimination that has influenced his administration's decision to end protections for roughly 60,000 Haitians.

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Maryland federal court. The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund says Homeland Security officials failed to follow the normal decision-making process when considering whether to renew the temporary protected status granted to Haitian immigrants. The status was granted to the immigrants after a devastating earthquake struck the Caribbean country in 2010.

The lawsuit says racial stereotypes that Trump has used in his comments about immigrants drove Homeland Security officials' policy decisions. Homeland Security spokeswoman Katie Waldman said in an email Thursday that the agency does not comment on pending litigation.

(© Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast rewritten or redistributed.)

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