Immigration

Haiti isn’t the only country facing a potential termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in the coming months— TPS-holders from Central American countries such as Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua are also at risk of losing their TPS designations. Central American and Haitians activists have banded together to advocate for TPS extension. They’ve scheduled meetings with the presidents of Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala in hopes of gaining their support in the fight for TPS extension. Visit our immigration page for more information about TPS extension. Read the full article HERE Haitians, Central Americans unite to fight deportation orders By Glenn Garvin, Miami Herald June 7, 2017 Banding together for the first time, activists from Haiti and three Central American countries announced Wednesday they’ll meet next week with the presidents of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala to try to enlist their […]

On May 22, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)  Secretary John Kelly extended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian nationals for only six months instead of the usual 18 months. This was a disappointing decision and U.S. lawmakers, Haitian American community, immigration advocates and faith-based groups were dissatisfied and vowed to stay mobilized. DHS’ decision reflects poorly Haiti’s current conditions. It also fails to take into account the Haitian government’s direct request  to redesignate “TPS for at least 18 months” for Haiti. While the DHS’ decision is not a total victory, it does reflect the power of the advocacy groups such as Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH) whose work on that front has broadened support for TPS extension. Visit our immigration page for more information about TPS extension. Read the full article HERE How Mobilization Won a Partial […]

First, Haiti is far from recovering from a series of natural disasters like the Jan. 2010 earthquake, Hurricane Matthew, as well as the preventable and curable cholera outbreak.  Hundreds of thousands were killed during the Jan. 2010 earthquake, thousands more wounded, and seven years after thousands of Haitians are still living in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPS) camp and calling makeshift tents and shellers their home. Last Oct., Hurricane Matthew devastated the most southern part of the country killed several hundreds, destroyed houses and the peasants’ livelihoods. Finally, but not least, the cholera outbreak  introduced by the United Nations peacekeeping soldiers has already killed over 10,000 Haitians and sickened thousands  more, and it has  not been put under control. For more information on TPS extension, please visit our website. Read the entire letter HERE. Protected Status for Haitians The New York […]

Haitian Americans and Immigration lawyers vow to continue to fight to save Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian nationals. The DHS-six-month TPS extension has done nothing than to terrify Haitian TPS-holders. They are worried about what is going to happen to them and their family after Jan. 22, 2018. They are living under fear. Fear of being deported to a land that is unsafe and unsuitable for them and their families. Marleine Bastien, the director of Fanm Ayisyen nan Miyami (Haitian Women of Miami) gave them hope. At a town hall meeting attended by IJDH’s Immigration Policy Coordinator Steve Forester in Little Haiti–Miami, FL, Bastien encouraged his fellow Haitians to be hopeful. She reminds them that Haitians have fought for every little gain since they arrived in this country. She told them that the fight for TPS is not over.  “Since we’ve been here in the ’70s, early ’80s, […]

Secretary John Kelly declined to commit to extending the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to more than 50,000 Haitians living in the U.S. during his short visit to Haiti on Wednesday. During his visit, Kelly met with the Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, senior government officials, Head of the U.N. Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) Sandra Honoré and MINUSTAH Military Commander Brazilian Lt. Gen. Ajax Porto Pinheiro. Kelly’s visit came after his agency decided to only extend TPS for six months for Haitian nationals instead of the usual 18 months. This decision left Haitian TPS-holders wondering what is next for them after Jan. 2018.  U.S. lawmakers, Haitians and immigration advocates, who wanted the status to be extended for 18 months, were disappointed by this decision. Call your representatives and senators to urge them to support TPS extension for Haitians. For more information on TPS extension, please visit our website. Read HERE the full article. […]

The Representative of Florida’s 22nd Congressional District, Ted Deutch lambasted the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)’s six-month Temporary Protected Status (TPS ) extension for Haitian nationals in an Op-Ed published by the Miami Herald.  Deutch urged  Secretary John Kelly to reconsider his decision, which he wrote, “should be based on humanitarian considerations — not arbitrary deadlines.”  The congressman added that  the DHS’s decision has done nothing than creating  fear and  unsease amongst Haitian TPS-holders. “This [decision] leaves Haitian TPS-holders living in uncertainty about whether they will be separated from their families and communities,”  Deutch wrote referring to the DHS’s disappointing decision.  Seven years after a 7.0 earthquake flattened Haiti’s capital, thousands of people continue to call makeshift tents and shelters their homes, and  the cholera outbreak introduced by the United Nations peacekeeping soldiers has not been put under control after […]