Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Angie Nixon on Friday called on Florida's two Republican senators — Sen. Rick Scott and Sen. Ashley Moody — to push their Senate colleagues to protect hundreds of thousands of Haitians whose humanitarian visas were terminated by the Trump administration.
“Florida is home to the largest Haitian community in the nation,"
Nixon said in a statement. "These are our neighbors, our healthcare workers, our small business owners, and the essential workers who help keep our state running.
"They fled horrific violence and political instability to build lives here. Forcing hundreds of thousands of people back into life-threatening conditions is deeply cruel, immoral, and economically reckless for Florida.”
She said Scott and Moody — who Nixon is challenging on Nov. 3 to win the Senate seat — have done nothing to protect Haitians with Temporary Protected Status, or TPS.
“I’m demanding they use whatever influence they claim to have in Washington to push the Senate to pass S. 4814, which would immediately reinstate TPS for Haitians until 2029.”
Senate Bill 4814, if passed, would extend protections for Haitian nationals who face a forced return amid worsening gang violence, political turbulence, and economic destruction in Haiti. The legislation is stalled in the U.S. Senate.
READ MORE: Miami immigrant advocates want Sens. Moody and Scott to protect Haitian TPS holders from deportation
Moody and Scott have expressed empathy toward Haitian TPS holders, but have not outlined any specific policy changes.
Moody told WPLG Local 10 in Miami in late July that she had met with Trump administration officials to talk about reviewing TPS holders' situations on a "case-by-case basis." Scott told ABC News in late July that Congress has "gotta fix the whole system of immigration to help them."
“Instead of sending taxpayer dollars to tear families apart and terrorize our neighborhoods, we should be protecting the hardworking people who help power this state," Nixon said referring to a $70 billion spending bill approved by Congress for immigration enforcement.
The spending bill, which President Trump signed into law, provides $38 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, and $26 billion for the U.S. Border Patrol. Another $5 billion was approved to cover unforeseen costs.
Nixon's plea to Scott and Moody follows a flurry of public demands in recent weeks by Haitian community leaders, immigrant rights advocates, and others to restore TPS for Haitians.
The Trump administration has been deporting hundreds of Haitian immigrants since winning a legal battle over the summer to end TPS for about 350,000 Haitians, including 158,000 in Florida, most of whom live in South Florida.
Activists have warned that Haiti is currently too dangerous and doesn’t have enough resources to help those being deported to a country of nearly 12 million people, of which more than half need humanitarian assistance because of surging gang violence and deepening poverty, hunger and violence.
