The Biden administration extended and redesignated Temporary Protected States (TPS) for Haiti on Monday, December 5, 2022. Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas made the decision after the administration received pressure from US advocates and members of Congress.
“We are providing much-needed humanitarian relief to Haitian nationals already present in the United States,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas. “The conditions in Haiti, including socioeconomic challenges, political instability, and gang violence and crime – aggravated by environmental disaster – compelled the humanitarian relief we are providing today.”
The administration set the redesignation date for November 6, 2022. This means that anyone from Haiti who was in the United States on or before November 6, 2022 can apply for TPS. All of those who are able to register for TPS will be allowed to stay in the United States and work legally until August 3, 2024. The BIden administration’s decision to extend and redesignate Haiti for TPS may benefit close to 100,000 Haitians already in the United States.
Mayorkas also made clear that TPS would not apply to anyone from Haiti who attempts to enter the US irregularly after November 6, 2022. “Those who attempt to travel to the United States after this announcement will not be eligible for TPS and, if they enter irregularly or without legal authorization, will be subject to repatriation.”
The US government makes it very difficult for Haitains to receive travel authorization to come to the United States. So, as long as the human rights situation inside Haiti continues to deteriorate there will be people fleeing the violence and seeking refuge, and they will be forced to do so “irregularly.”
The Quixote Center welcomes the Biden administration’s decision to extend and redesignate TPS for Haiti and the protection that affords to people already here. However, we stand by the principle that no one from Haiti who is fleeing violence should be forcibly returned, no matter when they arrive in the United States, or how they enter.
