Over 300,000 Haitians – nearly half of whom live in Florida – breathed a sigh of relief late Monday as a federal judge temporarily blocked the termination of Temporary Protected Status.
South Florida’s Haitian diaspora was on edge as the Trump administration prepared to let TPS expire Tuesday night. It would have forced them to return to a country where reports indicate that 1.4 million people are internally displaced and more than 90% of its capital city, Port-au-Prince, is run by an armed gang.
Now, as the larger legal fight continues – with the Trump administration likely to appeal this ruling – many are asking for a permanent solution so they do not have to go back.
“It’s a matter of life or death,” said TPS holder Farah Larrieux. “It’s not a choice to go back to Haiti.”
Larrieux, 47, is one of over 300,000 Haitians currently living in the country on TPS. President Barack Obama granted them the status following a bloody earthquake in 2010 that saw millions leave Haiti.
TPS provides temporary deportation protection and work authorization to immigrants from countries facing extreme conditions such as political violence, armed conflict or natural disasters. Immigrants from Venezuela, Nicaragua and other countries have been granted the status and then either had it removed or threatened.
Larrieux – who has been living in the country since 2005. She says TPS allowed her to attend college and build a life in South Florida.
She says deporting her to Haiti would be the same as “killing my dream.”
“Just stripping the effort that I’ve done for many years,” she added. “Everything that I’ve built, not only for myself, but for the community – for the United States, for Haiti.”
On Saturday, the United States Embassy in Port-au-Prince sent a security alert warning U.S. citizens of “ongoing security operations north and south of the embassy.” The alert cited reports of heavy gunfire.
The U.S. State Department issued a “Level 4: Do Not Travel” advisory for Haiti last June that warned Americans not to travel to the country, “due to kidnapping, crime, terrorist activity, civil unrest, and limited health care.”
Miami-Dade Commissioner Marleine Bastien – who represents a large swath of the county’s Haitian population and has long advocated for the diaspora – said that the trauma of sending TPS holders back would “last forever.”
”We Americans don’t understand the trauma of facing the possibility of going to a nation where you may be killed,” added Bastien. “Your little children may be at risk, especially little girls and women.”
The 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse exacerbated the nation’s instability. Amid the power vacuum, rival gangs G9 and G-Pèp joined forces to form Viv Ansanm – allowing them to expand their territory and operate as a coordinated power.
An estimated 6.4 million people now need humanitarian assistance. Women who face deportation or displacement are especially vulnerable to sexual violence, which is being increasingly being used to instill fear and maintain territorial control.
Children, the primary victims of displacement, have lost access to school, safety and stability. Armed groups continue to recruit them, and they are often forced to join gangs after losing access to basic needs. They now account for about 50% of active gang members.
Gangs control major roads and ports. Aid from abroad is frequently blocked. And much of the health care system has collapsed.
“ The situation is 10 times worse [since Haitians were first given TPS],” said Bastien. “So why would we send people who have been doing everything we ask them for?”
“[They] stay out of trouble,” Bastien added. “They work hard. They contribute to our economy. They pay taxes, they build businesses. Everywhere you turn, TPS recipients are giving, contributing, and doing everything we ask them to do.”
In a November statement, the Department of Homeland Security said that keeping TPS for Haitians would be “inconsistent with U.S. national interests.”
But the American Business Immigration Coalition estimates that Haitian TPS holders in Florida contribute an estimated $1.3 billion in state and local taxes, with over 113,000 having jobs. It also says that 63,000 TPS homeowners add $19 billion to housing values.
”Haitians constitute such a dedicated group of hardworking individuals contributing, no matter the sector – health, construction, hospitality,” said Bastien.
Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins told Caplin News she is particularly concerned about the estimated 6,000 Haitian TPS holders who work in South Florida’s health care industry.
”Whether that’s nurses, nursing assistants, physician’s assistants, home health aides…. that’s a lot of people and they are giving direct care to people that you love and that I love,” Higgins said. ”These people are not criminals.”
U.S. District Court Judge Ana C. Reyes on Monday issued the temporary injunction that allowed Haitians on TPS to stay in the country for now.
Reyes held that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem did not have the authority to end the status and was “motivated at least in part by racial animus.”
The judge also wrote that Noem’s assessment “ignores altogether the billions TPS holders contribute to the economy.”
The Trump administration is expected to appeal the ruling.
The community is still holding out for a permanent solution.
“ We deserve a pathway to citizenship,” said Larrieux, the TPS holder. “The president of the United States has the power to work with Congress, both Democrats and Republicans to make sure that they pass [it].
