Immigration

Republican Governor Rick Scott of Florida urged Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly to extend TPS for Haitians in a meeting on Thursday. DHS spokesman David Lapan noted that the secretary still hasn’t made a decision regarding extending TPS, which will allow over 50,000 Haitians to continue to live legally in the United States. Lapan said Sec. Kelly and Gov. Scott “did have a conversation about the program and the secretary listened to the Governor’s points about his desire for DHS to extend TPS.” The governor joins the growing bipartisan support for TPS extension, including Rep. Dan Donovan (R, NY), members of both Massachusetts‘ and New York’s congressional delegations, and 16 Senate Democrats.  Add your voice: Call your representatives and senators to urge them to support TPS for Haitians. For more information on TPS extension, please visit our website. Part of the article is shown below. Click HERE for the original article. Rick Scott asks […]

The criminal investigation launched by the Trump administration on Haitian nationals living in the United State for the past seven years is disheartening. This investigation has one goal, which is to dehumanize Haitians. It also stands against American values and all that the U.S. stands for. Steven Forester, the immigration policy coordinator with IJDH told Miami Herald’s Jacqueline Charles that the “criminal” inquiries are “a red herring” and may be the government’s way of trying to demonize Haitians. “The bipartisan support and merits of the argument for TPS…may mean that those who oppose any immigration at all may be grasping at straws,” he said. TPS is a special program designed to help people from countries that are temporary unable “to handle the return of its nationals adequately.” Haiti is one of the 13 countries that have been designated for TPS after the 2010 […]

The current Temporary Protected Status (TPS) that allows Haitians to legally reside in the United States after the 2010 earthquake will expire on July 22, and the fate of over 50,000 Haitians rests in the hands of Homeland Security Secretary, John Kelly.  Last April, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) acting Director James McCament recommended that the U.S. government end TPS for Haitian nationals. This recommendation is contradictory to the USCIS’s last December report that finds that the situation is still precarious in Haiti. The report also states that the country is still experiencing housing shortages, a cholera epidemic, limited medical care, economic concerns, food insecurity and security threats, which makes “unsuitable” for Haitians current living in the U.S. to return to their home. Leon Rodriguez, McCament’s predecessor, said: “It’s in the best interest of the U.S. to protect refugees.” Add […]

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS)’s current 18-month designation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians, which allows over 50,000 Haitians who have been residing legally in the United States, will expire on July 22. Last December, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reported that many problems continued in Haiti, including housing shortages, a cholera epidemic, limited medical care, economic concerns, food insecurity and security threats, which made it unsuitable for Haitians to return to their earthquake-ridden country. The USCIS acting director James McCament’s recommendation that the U.S. government end TPS for thousands of Haitian nationals by next January is a departure from the agency’s previous stance. Extending TPS for those Haitians living in the U.S. in the past seven years is the right thing to do. As McCament’s predecessor, Leon Rodriguez, said, “…it usually is in the best interest of the U.S. to […]

Marleine Bastien, the Executive Director of Haitian Women of Miami, discusses the importance of  extending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for over 50,000 legally residing in the U.S. In December 2016, former Secretary of State John Kerry recommended that TPS be extended for Haitians due to continued instability in their home country. However, in what seems to be a drastic departure from this prior recommendation, the acting director of USCIS, James McCament, recently opined that circumstances in Haiti have improved and have not warranted the full extension of TPS. In reality, Haiti still has many obstacles to overcome in its path to recovery from the January 2010 Earthquake, including destruction from Hurricane Matthew, a deadly cholera epidemic and growing food and housing insecurity. Haiti will be unable to support 50,000 dislocated Haitians, and communities across the U.S., including Disney World and Little Haiti, FL, would suffer […]

In less than three months, 50, 000 Haitian nationals could be deported to their native Haiti if the Trump administration doesn’t take action to extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for them. The New York Times continues to join the many voices to urge Department of Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly to extend TPS for those Haitians who have been living in the U.S. legally for the past seven years. The newspaper also criticizes the USCIS Director James McCament for his recommendation that the U.S. end the TPS for Haitians. The New York Times Editorial Board wrote that sending thousands of Haitians back to Haiti could worsen an already “desperate situation” in Haiti. They added, Secretary Kelly “should extend America’s welcome to the Haitians once again” instead. The editorial is shown below in its entirety. Click HERE for the original article. More calls for TPS […]