San Diego (Associated Press):
The Department of Homeland Security announced Friday that 300,000 Haitians already in the United States will be granted temporary legal status because conditions in the war-torn Caribbean nation have been deemed unsafe for them to return home.
The major expansion of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) would apply to Haitians who were in the U.S. on June 3, and would last until February 3, 2026. It also is proposed to extend TPS until February 3, 2026 for an estimated 200,000 Haitians who already held the program, which was enacted by Congress in 1990 to protect against deportations to countries hit by natural disasters or civil war.
The measure is one of the largest expansions of TPS and highlights another stark contrast on immigration policy between President Joe Biden and his predecessor, Donald Trump, who sought to end provisional residency status for many countries, including Haiti, during his time in the White House.
In recent years, gangs have plundered Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, and the surrounding area, killing, raping and kidnapping thousands of people and leaving hundreds of thousands more homeless, jobless and worse off in poverty.
“Violence and insecurity continue to exist in several parts of Haiti, limiting access to safety, health care, food, and water in many areas,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a press release. “Haiti is particularly vulnerable to flooding and landslides and frequently experiences devastating damage from storms, floods, and earthquakes. These overlapping humanitarian challenges result in ongoing urgent humanitarian needs.”
The Department of Homeland Security estimates that an additional 30,000 Haitians will be eligible for TPS, which would be the second expansion for Haitians. According to the Congressional Research Service, approximately 200,000 Haitians already receive TPS through previous offers, the first after the devastating earthquake in 2010 and the second during the political unrest in 2021.
Currently, there are approximately 900,000 people from 16 countries registered with TPS, with the most numerous nationalities being Haitian, Venezuelan, El Salvadoran, Honduran and Ukrainian.
Haiti has presented a challenge to the administration, which has sought to stem illegal border crossings. The administration recently temporarily suspended asylum processing for people who cross the border illegally. The administration announced this week that arrests for illegal border crossings have fallen by more than 40 percent since asylum processing was suspended.
In 2021, about 16,000 migrants, mostly Haitians, gathered on the banks of the Rio Grande in the small Texas town of Del Rio, sparking a mass deportation. Apprehensions of Haitians at the border then plummeted by January 2023. That year, the administration introduced CBP One, an online app required for legal entry at land crossings with Mexico, and began allowing up to 30,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to enter by plane for two years, with funding.
Apprehensions of Haitians crossing the border illegally from Mexico only reached 142 in May, down from a peak of nearly 18,000 in September 2021, but some are taking the dangerous sea route. On Wednesday, a group of more than 100 Haitians arrived on a sailboat off the southern Florida Keys.
The Haitian Bridge Alliance, along with other advocacy groups, praised the administration's “significant steps” and called for an end to deportations to Haiti. But the Department of Homeland Security indicated it would continue to deport those attempting to enter the country illegally, saying it would “continue to enforce United States laws and policies in the Straits of Florida, the Caribbean, and on the Southwest border.”
