Saturday, July 22 marked the beginning of the six-month extension for Haitian Temporary Protected Status (TPS) recipients. This leaves some 58,000 TPS recipients with little time to plan their future, while they face the potential deportation. However, Haitians in South Florid are not going to sit idly by until the time passes.
On Monday, a crowd of Hattian gathered at the headquarters of Fanm Ayisyen Nan Miyami (FANM), Haitian Women of Miami, where they collectively called for the renewal of TPS beyond January 2018. They also announced a new strategy to take the issue directly to President Trump.
Making case directly to Trump
Marleine Bastien, executive director of FANM said her organization is identifying people close to Trump to make the case for TPS families, The organization plans to identify 100 business leaders to assist in making the case, based mostly on economics, to the president for allowing Haitians to stay in the US.
Seeking to retain DACA too
The Haitian organization is also joining the effort of other organizations across the country to have the Trump administration keep DACA intact. DAC was the program implemented by President Obama in 2012 to provide legal immigration status to young undocumented immigrants brought to the USA by their undocumented parents.
The Trump administration renewed TPS status for Haitians in May, but for a shorter period than previously: just six months, instead of the previous administration’s typical 18 months. There are more than 50,000 Haitians protected by TPS in the U.S. Many of their children are citizens.
Need TPS for additional 24 months
“As we’ve stated for months, extending TPS for 24 additional months is in the United States’ national interest. Haiti is in no position either to safely absorb an additional 58,000 persons nor to make up for the remittances that would be curtailed” says Bastien.
FANM will continue to urge DHS Secretary Kelly, who is familiar with Haiti, to extend Haiti’s TPS designation. The arguments to extend TPS and not deport thousands of Haitians include last October’s Hurricane Matthew’s devastation last, which has caused a food insecurity crisis; the unchecked cholera epidemic; and incomplete recovery from the 2010 earthquake, with 50,000 still living in tents.
