Exclusive: Daphy Michel, from Haiti, was dropped off in Pittsburgh in 20F temperatures wearing summer clothes

• ‘She showed love for everyone’: how did Daphy Michel end up frozen to death in a Pittsburgh bus shelter?

The family of a Haitian immigrant who froze to death in early March at a bus shelter in Pittsburgh after she was dropped off in the city by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is poised to file a lawsuit this month against the United States and “multiple other governmental and non-governmental entities”, the Guardian has learned.

Daphy Michel, 31, had been in county jail for six months after a reported mental health crisis and street incident, and then was arrested by ICE before being released with a ankle monitor.

Haitian immigrant with mental illness found dead after ICE released her in 20F weather wearing summer clothes

• Family to sue after woman released from ICE custody froze to death

On the night of 26 February this year, the Michel family in Pennsylvania expected to see their loved one, Daphy, again very soon.

After she had spent six months in jail, a judge had dismissed criminal charges against her and one of her brothers was told she would be released soon, probably the next day.

Temporary protected status allowed me to rebuild my life. Now thousands like me help keep this country running

Right now, across the country, there are more than 330,000 Haitians collectively holding their breath over the future of lifesaving immigration protections provided through temporary protected status (TPS). Three hundred and fifty thousand is a big, meaningful number – but for many, it’s still just a number.

In the case of Donald Trump and his supporters in Congress, the number of lives at stake has mattered little. Trump has been incessant in his efforts to eliminate TPS for Haitians. In doing so, he’s broken with a bipartisan tradition dating back to 1990 of prioritizing the safety of people from other countries who cannot return home because of dangerous conditions. And it’s how he’s done it, too: without consideration for the ongoing violence, civil unrest, lack of infrastructure, and political instability in Haiti. But what Trump has also failed to acknowledge are the lives built here by that same huge number of people.

US employers and Haitian immigrants live in constant uncertainty as status of work permits remains in limbo

For more than a month, Bobby Kuchinsky arrived at his Florida restaurant each morning worried about whether he still had enough staff or if this might be the last shift for some of his Haitian workers, who have spent more than a decade as cooks, busboys and oyster shuckers.

On Tuesday, he suspended six of them after they lost authorization to work in the US.

More than 330,000 Haitian immigrants in limbo as Trump administration seeks to end temporary protected status

More than 330,000 Haitian immigrants in the US are set to lose their ability to legally live and work in the country as the Trump administration seeks to terminate their temporary protected status. An estimated 13,000 are nursing assistants, who care for 65,000 patients every day.

“I get up at 5am every morning and I take two buses to work to clean the rooms of the residents. I give my heart,” said a nursing home housekeeper with TPS from Haiti, who requested to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. “These residents are like my grandmother.”