In order to prevent even individuals who entered the nation illegally from being sent back to Haiti, which is still plagued by gang violence, the Biden administration on Friday announced the creation of new temporary protected status for Haitians who came in the United States on or before June 3, 2024.
Alejandro Mayorkas, the secretary of homeland security, stated, “We are offering this humanitarian help to Haitians who are now residing in the United States, taking into account the conditions that existed in their country of origin as of June 3, 2024.” “By doing this, we are acknowledging the primary goal of the TPS legislation and our responsibility to carry it out.”
Advocates for immigration have been pressing the Biden administration to grant temporary protected status to freshly arrived Haitians since unrest broke out in the country earlier this year, forcing the country’s president to flee and resign.
The administration said it had no plans to offer more Haitians temporary protected status while continuing to deport migrants who had been arrested at sea this spring as they fled the violence.
For Haitians who came in the country before to the 2010 earthquake, the United States previously granted temporary protected status, which was renewed as recently as 2022. DHS claims that with Friday’s announcement, an extra 309,000 Haitians living in the United States would be spared from deportation. Advocates for immigration predict that this would increase the number of Haitians in the United States with protected status to almost 500,000.
The Haitian Bridge Alliance’s executive director, Guerline Jozef, expressed her “elation” at the news but urged Congress to come up with a long-term solution.
Jozef declared, “I demand that the United States Congress enact comprehensive immigration reform that would grant all holders of temporary protected status permanent protection.”
She said that the economic contribution of Haitians qualifying for the safeguards to the United States is close to $31 billion.
Advocates reported that over 1,100 individuals had been murdered, maimed, or abducted in Haiti, where gangs rule 80% of the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince.