Campaign Action
Fabienne Josaphat writes in Teen Vogue that in ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for over 50,000 Haitians, “the Trump administration is forcing refugees back into a broken country” that has been devastated by poverty, a massive cholera outbreak, and an earthquake that killed over 200,000 and left over a million others homeless. “As of September 2016, over 55, 000 people are still displaced, some still living under tents, vulnerable, waiting for the next quake, the next hurricane, the deadly bite of disease, as well as food and water shortages,” Josaphat writes. “This is why so many Haitians need TPS, and why the recent decision by the Trump administration to terminate this protective status is inhumane”:
Instead, staying in protective status in America offers TPS beneficiaries the alternative of life. And here is the truth about the Haitian people: We work ourselves to death. We believe in the power of education. Haitian parents sacrifice everything for their children to succeed as doctors, lawyers, engineers. According to the American Immigration Council, Haitian, Salvadoran and Honduran TPS beneficiaries “add between $1.2 and $2.7 billion dollars annually to each state’s GDP” to the country’s gross domestic product.
Historically, Haiti has always been a leading voice in the struggle for freedom. We are the first black independent nation in the world to abolish slavery completely. Our men have fought wars for the Americas, the U.S. included, even flying Tuskegee aircrafts in World War II. Jean-Baptiste Point du Sable, a Haitian trader, founded the city of Chicago. Haven’t we earned a chance to survive in the country we’ve supported? During Trump’s campaign, he said that he wanted to be our “greatest champion.” He either lied or failed.
Last month, the administration also announced the end of TPS for over 2,000 Nicaraguans. Overall, 300,000 TPS recipients may face deportation if the administration ends protections altogether and Congress takes no steps to make sure they can stay here. If TPS ends, the government will be uprooting families that have lived in the U.S. for an average of 13 years and have over 250,000 U.S. citizen kids. And though Josephat’s dad was not a TPS recipient, she fears for others regardless. “While the Haiti I know, and last visited this summer, is not yet equipped to house these families. If my father were among that number, where would he go?”
In Maryland’s Montgomery County, city and community leaders have also taken a stand in defense of TPS recipients. The state is home to the second largest population of TPS families in the nation, including 20,000 Salvadorans and 1,900 Hondurans. Together, they have nearly 20,000 U.S. citizen kids who call Maryland home. While largely symbolic, the Montgomery County Council recently passed a resolution calling on Congress to act to protect TPS families and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients:
“Without question, there is strong support for immigrant reform that provides a path to citizenship, that lifts the threat of deportation from these families in our community,” said council President Hans Riemer (D-At Large), who was arrested last week alongside 200 others demanding that Congress enact legislation to grant DACA recipients permanent citizenship. “It’s important in times like these for the community to take a stand, and that’s what we’re trying to do with this resolution.”
Gustavo Torres, executive director of CASA de Maryland, said that even though the council doesn’t have the power to change federal policy, the resolution is a way of supporting residents who “are very scared about what’s going to happen.”
Torres said several DACA and TPS holders have established businesses in the county and have set down roots, and are anxiously awaiting a solution from Congress before their protections expire.
“The message from the county is saying: You are welcome. You are making a contribution, and we are with you,” Torres said.
When TPS families have deep roots to the U.S. and contribute billions to the economy, deporting them makes no sense. Like with DACA recipients, both have been given permission by the United States government to stay, and now both may get torn away. It’s racist, mass deportation policies in action. “Is this the United States—the land of immigrants and land of opportunities?” said Farah Larrieux, a Haitian TPS recipient, at a rally last month. “When in the end, they’re trying to strip away the opportunities that I worked so hard to build? And now you’re telling me I don’t deserve to be here?”