Latest news with #HaitianMigrants
Washington Post
36 minutes ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
DHS ends deportation protections for Haitians, says Haiti is ‘safe'
The Trump administration announced an end to temporary legal protections for Haitian migrants in the United States, leaving hundreds of thousands of people at risk of deportation. The temporary protected status designation, or TPS, for Haitian nationals in the United States expires in early August and will terminate Sept. 2, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement Friday. 'This decision restores integrity in our immigration system and ensures that Temporary Protective Status is actually temporary,' DHS said in a statement Friday, adding that the 'environmental situation in Haiti has improved enough that it is safe for Haitian citizens to return home' and that Haitian nationals could 'pursue lawful status' through other means if they were eligible. The statement did not elaborate on why it considered Haiti safe for citizens. Meanwhile, the U.S. government continues to advise Americans against all travel to Haiti, which has been under a state of emergency since March 2024 because of 'kidnapping, crime, civil unrest, and limited health care.' The State Department's travel advisory adds that 'mob killings and assaults by the public have increased' and that crimes including 'robbery, carjackings, sexual assault and kidnappings for ransom' are common. The U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince this week noted that some domestic air travel had resumed, and urged Americans to leave the country 'as soon as possible.' A federal register notice of the decision said that Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi L. Noem had decided to terminate the TPS designation for Hairi 'because it is contrary to the national interest to permit Haitian nationals … to remain temporarily in the United States.' 'Widespread gang violence in Haiti is sustained by the country's lack of functional government authority. This breakdown in governance directly impacts U.S. national security interests, particularly in the context of uncontrolled migration,' the notice said. It added that while the situation in Haiti was 'concerning … the United States must prioritize its national interests.' The United Nations' human rights chief, Volker Türk, said earlier this month that a record 1.3 million of Haiti's 11 million population had been displaced by violence, and urged other nations 'not to forcibly return anyone to Haiti, and to ensure that Haitians who have fled their country are protected against any kind of discrimination and stigmatization.' Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Massachusetts), who is the co-chair of the House Haiti Caucus, described the move 'to send vulnerable families back to a country plagued with violence and a horrific humanitarian crisis' as 'unconscionable, shameful, and dangerous,' in a statement Saturday. Amnesty International USA also condemned the decision, writing on X: 'Ending TPS for Haitians is cruel and dangerous, and a continuation of President Trump's racist and anti-immigrant practices.' TPS, which was created in 1990, allows the government to grant undocumented immigrants from countries experiencing war, disaster or other crises protection from deportation. Haiti received the designation following a devastating earthquake in 2010, which killed up to 200,000 people. The humanitarian and political situation in the nation, the poorest in the Western Hemisphere, has deteriorated drastically since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021. The decision is the latest in the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration — the administration has already announced an end to TPS for Afghans and up to 350,000 Venezuelans. President Donald Trump, who repeated false claims about Haitian immigrants during his 2024 election campaign, has sought to end TPS for Haitians before. In 2017, his administration said it planned to terminate TPS status for migrants from Haiti, Sudan, Nicaragua and El Salvador, before the decision was blocked by a federal judge. Haiti is also among more than a dozen countries included on Trump's newly reinstated and expanded travel ban.
CBS News
13 hours ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Haitians fear overcrowding, limited resources as DHS announces end of TPS
South Floridians react to U.S. plans to revoke immigration status of Haitian migrants in September South Floridians react to U.S. plans to revoke immigration status of Haitian migrants in September South Floridians react to U.S. plans to revoke immigration status of Haitian migrants in September Hours after the Department of Homeland Security announced it will officially end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians living in the United States, residents in northern Haiti expressed deep concern about the impact of returning migrants. In Cap-Haitien, the news spread quickly, dominating conversations across the city. The streets of downtown were crowded Friday afternoon as people continued their daily routines amid a tense and uncertain atmosphere. Concerns over infrastructure, healthcare, and housing The city, already straining from a growing population of people fleeing gang violence in the capital city of Port-au-Prince, may now face a fresh influx. One Haitian man voiced alarm at the possibility. "We gotta deal with the gang situation and the humanitarian [situation]," said Virme Wilmond. "All those people need food. We don't have health care. How are we going to receive all those people? That's going to be a real problem, I can tell you." Visitors also note lack of progress Robin Nash, a visitor from Los Angeles, noted worsening conditions in the city. "There's already a housing problem here right now and if you saw downtown Cap, there's nothing but trash," she said. "I'm thinking of the deepest darkest ghetto." According to CBS News Miami, Nash said this was her second trip to Haiti and that she had not seen improvement since her last visit. TPS termination set for September 2 DHS Secretary Kristy Noem said in a statement that the decision to terminate TPS aligns with the original intent of the program, noting that conditions in Haiti had improved. She added that allowing Haitians to remain in the U.S. would be "contrary to the national interest." Two flights departing from Miami were reported full, with some passengers permanently relocating to Haiti. The TPS designation ends August 3, with termination effective September 2. Without legal intervention, hundreds of thousands of Haitians currently living in the United States could lose their protected status that day.
CBS News
20 hours ago
- Politics
- CBS News
U.S. to revoke immigration status of Haitian migrants in September
The Trump administration will revoke the legal status and work permits of hundreds of thousands of Haitian migrants in early September, arguing that conditions in Haiti have sufficiently improved for them to return home, the Department of Homeland Security announced Friday. The department said it would terminate Haiti's longstanding Temporary Protected Status program, which has allowed immigrants from the crisis-stricken Caribbean nation to live and work in the U.S. legally since 2010, following the devastating earthquake that year. If they don't qualify for another legal immigration status — like asylum or a green card — those who lose their TPS protections will become ineligible to work in the U.S. legally and eligible to be arrested and deported by federal immigration authorities. The Trump administration on Friday urged Haitians with TPS to voluntarily leave the U.S. by using a smartphone app that officials have converted into a system to facilitate self-deportations. The administration has warned immigrants in the U.S. illegally that if they don't self-deport, they will be found, arrested and forcibly deported. "This decision restores integrity in our immigration system and ensures that Temporary Protective Status is actually temporary," DHS said in a statement. "The environmental situation in Haiti has improved enough that it is safe for Haitian citizens to return home." As of late last year, more than a quarter of a million Haitians — 260,790 — had been approved for TPS, according to government data compiled by Congress' research unit. DHS said their TPS protections would lapse on Sept. 2. Created by Congress in 1990, TPS allows the federal government to offer migrants work permits and a reprieve from deportation if their home countries are engulfed in a crisis, such as a war or an environmental disaster. Despite the Trump administration's assertions on Friday, the U.S. government has described Haiti as a country with deep political instability and plagued by gang violence and widespread poverty. In fact, the State Department instructs Americans not to visit Haiti in a Level 4 travel advisory, warning them about the threat of "robbery, carjackings, sexual assault, and kidnappings for ransom." The Biden administration vastly expanded the TPS program for Haitians, allowing many of those who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border — illegally and legally — to qualify for the initiative. It also used TPS at an unprecedented scale to offer legal status to hundreds of thousands migrants from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Venezuela, Ukraine and other nations. But President Trump's administration has sought to severely curtail TPS programs, as part of its efforts to oversee the largest deportation effort in American history. Since Mr. Trump took office, officials have announced plans to terminate TPS protections for Afghans, Cameronians and Venezuelans. Last month, the Supreme Court allowed the administration to end the work permits and deportation protections of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans TPS recipients.
