US extends temporary protected status for over 50,000 Haitians

The Biden administration, citing conditions in Haiti, is allowing eligible Haitian nationals in the U.S. to apply anew for temporary protected status.

|
REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo
Haitian immigrants and supporters rally to reject a U.S. Department of Homeland Security decision to terminate temporary protected status for Haitians, in New York on Nov. 21, 2017. Lawsuits challenged the move, and now the Biden administration is moving to allow Haitians to apply for TPS again.

The Biden administration is allowing eligible Haitian nationals residing in the U.S. to apply for a new 18-month designation for temporary protected status, reversing a Trump administration effort that had sought to end the special consideration.

In a statement Saturday, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas cited security concerns, social unrest, an increase in human rights abuses, crippling poverty and other problems in Haiti for the decision.

“After careful consideration, we determined that we must do what we can to support Haitian nationals in the United States until conditions in Haiti improve so they may safely return home," Mayorkas said.

DHS says a foreign country may be designated for temporary protected status, or TPS, because of conditions that temporarily prevent the country’s nationals from returning safely or because the country is unable to handle the return of its nationals adequately. While a person with TPS cannot be removed from the U.S., DHS notes that it is a temporary benefit that doesn’t lead to lawful permanent resident status or give any other immigration status.

DHS initially designated Haiti for TPS in January 2010 in the aftermath of the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that devastated the country. The designation was extended several times until the Trump administration announced in January 2018 that Haiti’s TPS designation would end effective July 22, 2019. Several lawsuits challenging the termination have allowed the designation to remain in effect.

“Today, the Biden administration affirmed America’s commitment to its humanitarian values,“ Murad Awawdeh, executive director for the New York Immigration Coalition, said in a statement. “Haitian New Yorkers can now rest easier knowing that their families can stay together and in their communities as a vital part of our economic and social fabric."

The NYIC, an umbrella group for policy and advocacy organizations in the state, estimates that 5,200 Haitian recipients of TPS reside in New York. Saturday's renewal of TPS affects more than the 50,000 Haitians living in the U.S. while redesignating TPS for Haitians who arrived in the U.S. after 2010 could benefit up to 100,000 more, according to the NYIC.

Among lawmakers applauding the decision was Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J. “The last thing our country should be doing is forcing an entire community in the U.S. to decide between packing up their lives and tearing their families apart by self-deporting, or becoming undocumented and forced into the shadows of our society,” Menendez said.

DHS said the new TPS designation enables Haitian nationals residing in the U.S. as of Friday — as well as individuals without nationality who last resided in Haiti — to file initial applications for TPS, so long as they meet eligibility requirements. Those who attempt to travel to the U.S. after the announcement will not be eligible for TPS and may be sent home, the agency said.

Haiti’s 18-month designation will go into effect on the publication date of the Federal Register notice, which DHS said will come shortly and provide instructions for applying.

Individuals eligible for TPS under the new designation must file an application for TPS with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services within the registration period, DHS said. Current beneficiaries under Haiti’s TPS designation also must apply, the agency said.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to US extends temporary protected status for over 50,000 Haitians
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2021/0523/US-extends-temporary-protected-status-for-over-50-000-Haitians
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe