On November 20, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that Haitians living and working in the United States since an earthquake ravaged their country 2010 will have to leave or be deported by July 2019. About 60,000 Haitians currently benefit from the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program, signed into law by President George H.W. Bush in 1990. The DHS announcement followed an October decision by the Trump Administration that ended the protection for 2,500 Nicaraguans.
The protection is offered to U.S. resident and undocumented immigrants when war, natural disaster, or other “extraordinary” conditions temporarily make return to their native country unsafe. Foreign nationals can obtain work documents, but the protection does not led to “lawful, permanent resident status.”
Immigrants from 10 nations currently reside in the United States legally under the designation. Aside from Haiti and Nicaragua, these countries include El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Nepal, and Yemen.
The 2010 magnitude-7.0 earthquake killed more than 200,000 Haitians, left hundreds homeless, and destroyed most of the island nation’s infrastructure. The Obama Administration granted TPS for displaced Hatians and continued to extend it.
In making the case for ending the status, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke stated:
“Significant steps have been taken to improve the stability and quality of life for Haitian citizens, and Haiti is able to safely receive traditional levels of returned citizens. Haiti has also demonstrated a commitment to adequately prepare for when the country’s TPS designation is terminated.”
Some in Congress objected strongly to the decision. Senator Bill Nelson (FL-D) said:
“There is no reason to send 60,000 Haitians back to a country that cannot provide for them. … I am strongly urging the Administration to reconsider. Ultimately, we need a permanent legislative solution.”
Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL-R) said that, having traveled to Haiti, “I can personally attest that Haiti is not prepared to take back nearly 60,000 TPS recipients under these difficult and harsh conditions.”
For background on this topic, see the February 2011 issue of Congressional Digest on “Haiti’s Recovery and Reconstruction.”
