FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MARCH 17, 2026
MEDIA CONTACT: Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti – media@ijdh.org
59 Organizations Urge DHS to Bring New Leadership on Haitian TPS
Ahead of Wednesday’s Senate Homeland Security Committee Confirmation Hearing for Senator Markwayne Mullin as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), organizations representing Haitian-Americans, people of faith, employers, solidarity groups and rule of law advocates urge the Department to use its leadership transition as an opportunity to change its approach towards Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians. The groups explain that abandoning the illegal effort to terminate Haitian TPS will make American communities safer and more prosperous while respecting the rule of law.
DHS announced terminations of TPS for 350,000 Haitians for August 2, 2025 and February 3, 2026. Both times federal judges, including one appointed by George W. Bush, blocked the termination as illegal. TPS was first granted for Haitians following the disastrous January 2010 earthquake, and has been extended several times since, most recently in July 2024 on account of an armed group offensive that started taking over whole neighborhoods earlier that year and continues to the present. People with a criminal record are not eligible for TPS.
“With new leadership comes a critical opportunity to correct course,” according to Vanessa Joseph, Chair of the National Haitian Elected Officials Network (NHAEON). The Department should abandon its effort to terminate TPS for Haitians and embrace a lawful, humane approach that reflects both the facts on the ground and our nation’s values. Protecting Haitian TPS keeps families together, supports workers and local economies, and promotes safer, more stable communities. This is not only the right thing to do, it is what respect for the rule of law demands.”
“Haiti’s current condition, including the catastrophic violence by armed groups, is the epitome of extraordinary, dangerous conditions,” explained Guerline Jozef, Executive Director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance. “That is exactly what the TPS program was designed for. Sending Haitians back now will be devastating to the U.S workforce, tear apart families, and condemn many of them to death, others to kidnapping and starvation. Many of these issues are partly due to U.S foreign policies toward Haiti. These crucial facts must be taken under consideration as the lives of over 350,000 Haitians and their families are in the balance”
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops agreed that “there is simply no realistic opportunity for the safe and orderly return of people to Haiti at this time.” The Bishops added that the administration “still has the opportunity to do the right thing—to safeguard human life, to uphold the law, and to promote greater stability for people in this country and beyond.”
In the US, ending Haitian TPS will uproot families and communities, including the families of 87,000 US citizen children with a Haitian TPS holder parent. “The Haitian TPS holders who DHS is trying to deport are parents, children, spouses, neighbors, church members, hard workers, and so much more,” noted Tessa Petit, Executive Director of the Florida Immigrant Coalition. “The painful impact of this unfair decision to suspend the legal status of 350,000 Haitians will ripple out far beyond the recipients, to include many families and the social fabric of our communities. The pain is completely avoidable, if DHS simply accepts that TPS holders from Haiti are eligible to continue to stay legally and contribute to our communities.”
Haitian TPS holders fill an estimated 200,000 jobs, especially in critical economic sectors such as healthcare, food processing, construction, manufacturing, airport travel, and hospitality that struggle to fill positions. They contribute $5.9 billion to the economy and pay $1.5 billion in taxes. 41% of Haitian TPS households are homeowners.
“Immigrants with Temporary Protected Status are a cornerstone of the workforce that seniors across the US rely on every day,” said Jose Palma, National Coordinator of the TPS Alliance, one of the cornerstones of the Care for Seniors, Care for America campaign. “They provide stability, continuity, and care that millions of older adults and their families depend on. Their absence would deepen existing shortages and leave families struggling to find trusted caregivers for their loved ones.”
“Families, older adults, and employers depend on this workforce that is stretched, undervalued, and at risk—yet, at the same time, committed, strong and resilient. These reliable, legal, staff show up day after day; families trust them, and they play a critical role in the communities that serve those we love most. Protecting them means ensuring the dignity, trust, and well-being of our seniors,” said Amanda Mead, Director of Workforce Policy of LeadingAge.
“DHS has an opportunity to affirm the rule of law in the US by abandoning its initiative to terminate Haitian TPS,” said Brian Concannon, Executive Director of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH). “Judges appointed by Republican and Democrat Presidents have repeatedly found that the terminations violate the TPS statute and the US Constitution. DHS should respect those rulings, extend TPS, and focus on finding pathways for its policy goals that do not violate our laws and Constitution.”
Endorsing Organizations:
African Communities Together
Alianza Americas
Ansara Family Fund
Asamblea-De-Derechos-Civiles
Association of Haitian Women, Inc.
Beraca Community Development Corporation
Borderlands Resource Initiative
Care for Seniors, Care for America
Catholic Legal Services
Center for Gender & Refugee Studies
Central American Resource Center of Northern California – CARECEN SF
Congregations of St Joseph
Dignity Now!
Earth Interwoven
Environmental Justice Initiative for Haiti
Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM)
Faith in Action
Family Action Network Movement
Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project
Florida Immigrant Coalition
Global Justice Clinic, NYU School of Law
Haiti H2O: Hope to Opportunity
Haiti School Project
Haiti Solidarity Network of the Northeast
Haitian American Alliance
Haitian Evangelical Clergy Association
Haitian Americans United Inc.
Haitian Women’s Collective
Haitian-American Foundation for Democracy
IFSI-USA
Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH)
Konbit for Haiti
Konbit Lakay & Fondasyon Mapou
LI Li Li Read
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
Massachusetts Action for Justice
Massachusetts Law Reform Organization
MomsRising
Movement of Love for Haïti (MLHA)
National Haitian American Elected Officials Network (NHAEON)
National Partnership for New Americans
Nicaraguan American Legal Defense and Education Fund, NALDEF
Nou Hope Inc.
Oasis Legal Services
OE Consulting
Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition
Quixote Center
Roots of Development
Safe Harbor Circles
Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN)
Sunflower Community Action Inc
Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
Venezuelan American Caucus
Village Engage
Voces de la Frontera
Wicomico Immigration Rights Coalition
Witness at the Border
Women Watch Afrika