Last week, Department of Homeland Secretary Mayorkas announced that DHS will extend and redesignate Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for Haiti for another 18 months. The agency cited the country’s ongoing violence and insecurity, including food insecurity. This means that over half a million Haitians already in the United States are protected from deportation.
To benefit, Haitians need to have been in the U.S. as of June 3. There are approximately 214,000 Haitians who are already in the United States and receiving TPS benefits. Their benefit will now extend for another 18 months. Another 309,000 who arrived after January 2023, under a Biden Administration humanitarian parole program, will become newly eligible for the TPS designation. Haitians enrolled in TPS are protected from deportation and can also apply for work permits.
This step is a result of the tireless advocacy of many groups, including Quixote Center. Haiti is experiencing extreme challenges and we commend our government for providing protection from deportation for Haitians already living and working here. We call on the Biden Administration to take additional steps to protect Haitians, including ending all deportations and maritime removals to Haiti, and to offer TPS to Haitians who arrived in the United States after June 3.
We also call on the Administration to put a stop to activities that destabilize Haiti, leading to irregular migration. Criminal gangs that are terrorizing the population have military-grade weapons and ammunition trafficked from the United States, where weak gun laws enable criminal elements to purchase weapons, and weak enforcement allows them to flow out to the Caribbean through U.S. ports.
Quixote Center will be co-sponsoring a webinar on this topic to help our supporters to understand the issue better. It will take place on July 30 at 5 pm. Click Here to register.
We have prepared this summary of the legislation currently before Congress designed to address the trafficking of weapons to Haiti. We will be sending out an action enabling you to write to Congress and the Administration on these bills and other administrative measures. Since Congress is currently on break, we will send that out to you in two weeks.
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