South Florida Haitians rally for TPS extension as work permits set to expire
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Santcha Etienne shared a message for TPS holders at a rally in Little Haiti: "You are not alone." Photo: Martin Vassolo/Axios
South Florida's Haitian community is pleading for new deportation protections after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to revoke Temporary Protected Status for Haitians.
The big picture: Florida is home to an estimated 158,000 Haitian TPS holders, including about 93,000 workers at risk of losing their work authorizations.
Driving the news: Activists, elected leaders and community members gathered in Little Haiti and at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport this week to demand that the Senate pass a three-year TPS extension already approved in the House.
- They argued that TPS holders have built lives in South Florida, raised U.S. citizens and supported the local economy.
State of play: TPS allows foreign nationals to temporarily work and live in the U.S. if the government determines that their home countries are not safe or cannot handle their return.
- Sending Haitians back to a country in the midst of gang violence and mass displacement would be immoral, split up families, and hurt local businesses, advocates say.
- In revoking TPS — which has protected Haitians since 2010 — the Trump administration called Haiti's current crisis "concerning" but said allowing Haitians to remain in the U.S. temporarily would be "contrary to the national interest of the United States."
The latest: The federal government originally set a Friday expiration date for work authorizations, but it has been extended to July 24.
- In South Florida, a few hundred Haitian TPS holders who are members of the labor union Unite Here Local 355 were informed they would be terminated, mostly in Broward County, according to union secretary-treasurer Wendi Walsh.
- TPS holders don't have a pathway to citizenship and must seek another avenue like asylum, marriage or employment, PBS reports.
What they're saying: Farah Larrieux, a Haitian TPS holder and Miramar business owner, tells Axios that going back to Haiti would be "a death sentence."
- She has been living in the U.S. since 2005 and has been on TPS since 2010. She is currently applying for asylum.
- "People are wondering what is going to be their future. It's tough to wake up every day with that question when you didn't do anything wrong."
At the Little Haiti rally on Thursday, Black Alliance for Just Immigration community organizer Santcha Etienne shared a message for TPS holders: "You are not alone. You are not temporary. You have rights."