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Haitians need Temporary Protected Status extension

Posted on May 11 2017

Nearly 50,000 Haitians living in the United States face the prospect of being forced out on July 22. That is when their Temporary Protected Status (TPS) will expire, unless extended by the Trump administration. Haitian TPS began after the 2010 earthquake, and has been extended since then because of the impossible conditions still prevailing in Haiti.

A devastating earthquake hit Haiti in January 2010, killing more than 200,000 people, injuring more than 300,000, and displacing more than two million out of a population of about 10 million. That is about one out of every give people killed, injured or homeless, in the poorest country in the hemisphere.

Aid and rescue workers from around the world swooped in to help. They brought cholera with them. Ten months later Haiti was in the middle of its first cholera outbreak in a century. By 2016, cholera had sickened more than 800,000 Haitians and killed more than 10,000.

And then, in October 2016, Hurricane Matthew swept across southern Haiti.

The country has not recovered – not from the earthquake, not from cholera’s continuing impact, not from the hurricane. In January, the Miami Herald reported on people living in caves, and others starving to death:

“Haiti’s current humanitarian situation is precarious and likely to get worse, the United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned.

“’The vast majority of agricultural households have not recovered their means of production, their financial situation is rapidly deteriorating and their access to basic services has diminished considerably because of the end of emergency programs,’ the U.N. humanitarian agency said in a report published last month.”

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) allows people from certain countries to remain in the United States and to get temporary work permits due to an emergency situation in their home countries. The Secretary of Homeland Security issues the TPS determination, and can renew or terminate the status. Right now, the Secretary of Homeland Security is looking for excuses to terminate TPS. Associated Press reported May 9:

“Internal emails obtained by The Associated Press show a top immigration official wanted not only crime data on Haitians who are protected from deportation under the Temporary Protected Status program, but also how many were receiving public benefits. Such immigrants aren’t eligible for welfare benefits….

From one of the emails:

“Please dig for any stories (successful or otherwise) that would show how things are in Haiti — i.e. rebuilding stories, work of nonprofits, how the U.S. is helping certain industries,” Kovarik wrote on April 28. “We should also find any reports of criminal activity by any individual with TPS. Even though it’s only a snapshot and not representative of the entire situation, we need more than ‘Haiti is really poor’ stories.”

Haiti is “really poor.” Right now, 50,000 Haitians living and working and paying taxes in the United States – and sending money back home to help those in desperate need.

Senators Robert Menendez and Bill Nelson wrote to the Secretary of State and Secretary of Homeland Security on April 26, urging humanitarian, not punitive, action:

“Given Haiti’s many challenges, the United States’ focus should be to prioritize disaster assistance and recovery, not to return Haitian naitonals to a country lacking the capacity to support them. We ask that you take the urgent humanitarian situation into account when considering extending the TPS designation.”

The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) has also joined in that plea:

“The elimination of TPS for Haiti will not only create immense hardships for close to 47,000 Haitian individuals who have lived in the United States under the protection of this program for more than 7 years, it will also impact our economy and workforce. A recent study found that ending TPS for certain recipients could result in a loss of billions of dollars to the GDP.

“Members of Congress need to urge DHS Secretary Kelly to re-designate TPS for Haitians nationals. 

“America needs to continue to be a humanitarian leader, amidst the ongoing crisis in Haiti. Extending TPS for Haiti is simply the right thing to do.