A last-minute court order has moved the deadline a couple days for the expiration of Temporary Protective Status for Haitians, but hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries are still about to be in legal limbo.
TPS for Haitians was supposed to end Friday, but the court order moves the deadline to Monday, July 27. The Department of Homeland Security aimed to end TPS now, but the court declined and said it will issue its orders on Monday.
On Wednesday, local political and immigration advocates came together to talk about the legal and political options. They argue Haiti remains an incredibly violent country gripped by a security crisis where gangs control many areas of the island nation. The U.S. State Department’s travel advisory for Haiti is Level 4: “Do Not Travel,” the highest advisory level due to life-threatening risks.
U.S. House Republicans in the Senate blocked a Democratic attempt to extend TPS for 350,000 Haitians. NBC6 spoke to Republican Rep. Carlos Gimenez who says TPS for Haiti and Venezuela should be extended. “I would love for the administration to extend TPS for Haitians and Venezuelans,” he said. “TPS was made for that. You’re sending people back to a failed state and you’re sending people back to a country that’s just been devastated by a natural disaster. And so that’s exactly what TPS is for, right? And so we need to, this one-size-fits-all that we’re not going to do TPS, that’s not right. We’re going to talk to the administration and say, hey, you know, TPS is case-by-case basis, you know, it’s different situations around the world. And so you have to adjust for that. So yeah, I’ll be talking to them.”
Immigration experts who know the Haiti issue are recommending those who are about to lose TPS to find an attorney and get things in order. “That includes family preparedness items, such as guardianship, a power of attorney, having documents in order that help people to understand what will happen to your children, your business, your money, your bank accounts, anything that you have, your car, your house, we want to make sure that people are prepared for the worst,” Vanessa Joseph, of Catholic Legal Services, said.
NBC6 has reached out to Sens. Rick Scott and Ashley Moody to get their take on TPS for Haiti, but we are still awaiting a response.
