Donald Trump’s racism against certain classes of immigrants invalidates his move to end protections for Haitians and El Salvadorans in the US, a new lawsuit alleges.

“President Trump has long made clear his dislike and disregard for Latino and Black immigrants”, a complaint filed in a Massachusetts district court argues.

The legal challenge, filed by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice on behalf of eight Haitian and El Salvadoran immigrants, contests the Trump administration’s decision to rescind a designation that has allowed hundreds of thousands of immigrants from struggling nations to remain in America.

In recent months the administration announced that it would phase out Temporary Protected Status (TPS) grants that were instituted after earthquakes devastated Haiti and El Salvador. Some 300,000 people from those countries have secured TPS, according to the lawsuit.

The Department of Homeland Security has said the situations on the ground have improved enough in El Salvador and Haiti for people to return home. People from Haiti will see their statuses expire in June of 2019, with TPS set to end for Salvadorans in September of 2019.

While the legal challenge disputes the notion that either country has stabilised enough to justify ending TPS - noting subsequent natural disasters, “extreme gang violence” in El Salvador and Haiti remaining “economically stagnant” - it also argues that Mr Trump’s move to suspend TPS is “impermissibly tainted by racial animus” and “therefore cannot stand”.

The Haiti earthquake six months on Show all 10 1 /10 The Haiti earthquake six months on The Haiti earthquake six months on Russell Watkins/DFID The Haiti earthquake six months on Six months ago when the earthquake devastated Haiti, eight-year-old Renane lost the lower part of her left leg after being trapped in the rubble of her home for two days. Six months on, and thanks to the work of Handicap International and the UK's Department for International Development, she is beginning to start a new life with a prosthetic limb. Russell Watkins/DFID The Haiti earthquake six months on Athough huge challenges lie ahead for Haiti, markets like this one at Carrefour-Fuilles in Port au Prince are bustling again, and banks are up and running. Cash-for-work schemes are giving people some income which is starting to stimulate trade. Russell Watkins/DFID The Haiti earthquake six months on When the hurricane hit in January, the small support network that existed in Haiti was wiped out. Aloude, aged 51, is now managing a community kitchen in Carrefour-fuilles, Port au Prince, as part of a project run by Oxfam. She cooks a meal for 80 people a day. Russell Watkins/DFID The Haiti earthquake six months on Reconstruction work underway on a prison in Haiti. The UK government is supporting the government of Haiti by providing three prisons specialists from the Stabilisation Unit, as well as a team of specialist civil servants and civilian experts. Russell Watkins/DFID The Haiti earthquake six months on Haitian men on a cash-for-work scheme run by Handicap International near Petit-Goave. Providing cash-for-work activity is an important element of early recovery plans following the earthquake as there are thousands of tonnes of debris still to be cleared. Russell Watkins/ DFID The Haiti earthquake six months on Children in a school lesson in Leogane, Haiti. One part of the building is marked with a green tick, indicating that it has been assessed as safe by engineers from a French NGO. The other part of the building has a red cross, meaning it is still dangerous. Russell Watkins/DFID The Haiti earthquake six months on A worker with the international charity Action Against Hunger inspects a four-month-old baby in a 'safe' mother and child tent supported by UKaid, in the IDP camp on the Champ de Mars in central Port au Prince, Haiti. Russell Watkins/DFID The Haiti earthquake six months on Haitian men and women clear a drainage channel as part of a cash-for-work scheme in Leogane, Haiti, with support from the UK's Department for International Development. Russell Watkins/DFID The Haiti earthquake six months on UKaid-funded JCBs and Land Rovers being checked before loading on to the RFA Largs Bay, bound for Haiti. Although the initial relief effort came under wide criticism, now many aid agencies are managing to send through vital supplies and skilled professionals. Russell Watkins/DFID

Official justifications are “nothing but a thin and pretextual smokescreen for a racially discriminatory immigration agenda”, the lawsuit alleges.

It cites examples of Mr Trump’s incendiary immigration rhetoric, including his references to “rapists” and people “bringing crime” from Mexico and Latin American during the presidential campaign and instances in which he reportedly said African immigrants would not want to return to their “huts,” denigrated Haitians as all having AIDS and complained about immigrants from “s***hole countries” during a discussion about immigrants from Haiti and El Salvador.

Trump referred to Haitians and Africans as coming from ‘s***hole countries’

“The animus directed towards Latino and Black immigrants is a clear and unfortunate thread ruling throughout President Trump’s statements - and his actualized by his Administration’s policies,” the complaint says.