Reps. Albio Sires (NJ-8) and Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-25) Urge DHS Sec. to Redesignate Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS)
Earlier this week, Democratic Rep. Albio Sires joined Republican colleague Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart in sending a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas urgently calling for Haiti to be redesignated for Temporary Protected Status (TPS). It is beyond well established that Haiti is grappling with simultaneous food insecurity, widespread gender-based violence, political instability, and economic crises, which have all been compounded by COVID-19. It has never been more clear that the unsafe conditions in Haiti merit protection under TPS, a program designed to help those in the United States whose countries of origin are dangerous and unstable.
According to Douglas Rivlin, Director of Communication for America’s Voice:
There is now bipartisan support in the House and Senate, not to mention the growing voices on the ground calling, no, screaming, for the Biden Administration to redesignate Haiti for TPS. The growing support should be a wake up call for the President and his team. Yet almost daily, deportation flights are leaving the U.S. bound for Haiti and it is well past time for this Administration to deliver on its promise to the Haitian community already here living in the U.S.
The President has already used TPS to protect Syrians, Venezuelans and Burmese nationals in America from deportation to unsafe countries. Adding Haiti to this list will not only protect Haitians in the U.S., but help stabilize Haiti as it struggles with multiple crises. Émigrés in the U.S. can bolster the Haitian economy through remittances, made all the more possible if they have the security and work permission of TPS.
We call on the Biden Administration to act with urgency to stop deportation flights to Haiti and redesignate Haitians in the U.S. for TPS now.
