By Naeisha Rose
U.S. Department of Homeland Secretary John Kelly announced an extension Monday of the temporary protected status of 55,000 Haitians across the country that will last until January 2018.
He acted after a press conference at Foley Square and a national call-in last week held by the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs.
There are currently 22,000 Haitians in New York alone who are not dual nationals nor born in the United States. They were granted temporary protected status, a legal designation that allows them to work and live in the United States because of “natural disasters and other humanitarian crises,” after the 2010 earthquake and the 2016 Hurricane Matthew ravaged their home country, according to Immigrant Affairs Commissioner Nisha Agarwal of the mayor’s office.
In Queens, most live in the Queens Village, Hollis, Jamaica, Cambria Heights, Springfield Gardens and St. Albans area within Community Boards 12 and 13.
“An extension of the temporary protective status of only six months is a slap in a face to the countless Haitian people who sought refuge in our country following the devastating earthquake in 2010,” said state Sen. Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans), who represents much of those areas. “In fact, it is especially aggravating to learn of this inadequate extension as we celebrate the contributions of the Haitian people during Haitian Heritage Month. We absolutely cannot force Haitian families to go back to a country that is still suffering from natural disasters, a cholera outbreak, and a delicate economy in such a short amount of time.”
If the federal government had decided against renewing TPS, Haitians would have lost their protected status in the United States July 22.
The mass deportation of Haitians nationwide with provisional citizenship would have had a large impact on the economy. They contribute $280 million to the U.S. gross domestic product and $42 million to Medicare and Social Security, according to Agarwal.
The press conference, call-in, and a letter that was sent out to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly last week came in response to Citizenship and Immigration Services Acting Director James McCament recommending to the Trump Administration April 10 that “conditions in Haiti no longer support its designation,” according to Agarwal. However, McCament wanted the protected status to expire in January 2018 instead of this summer.
Agarwal, along with 16 Democratic senators and Cities for Action want the extension to last longer. Cities for Action is a coalition of 13 mayors, including Bill de Blasio, that takes proactive stances on immigration.
“While this extension is welcome, it falls far short of what is needed,” de Blasio said. “Haitians seeking refuge in our country deserve certainty, and to be free of the fear that their family could be needlessly torn apart. It would be immoral to force them back to Haiti while their country is still recovering from a series of devastating natural disasters. Renewing Temporary Protected Status is the right thing to do, but I call on the President to provide a full, 18-month extension.”
The 1199SEIU, which represents 400,000 health-care workers in the Eastern United States, opposed the recommendation of sending Haitians back to Haiti, where 50,000 people already live in tent cities and a cholera outbreak is not under control.
Protected status of people from Sudan and South Sudan will be up for review Nov. 2, 2017. The protected status for people from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone expired May 21. People from Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and El Salvador had their status renewed earlier in the year, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website.
Reach reporter Naeisha Rose by e-mail at nrose
