Michelle Pierre is witnessing firsthand the devastating impact Haitian families are experiencing with the Trump administration’s decision to end Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for hundreds of thousands of Haitian immigrants.
Speaking at a rally Wednesday afternoon to support extending TPS for Haitians, Pierre spoke about her aunt, who is facing deportation because her TPS authorization expires next Tuesday, the deadline the administration imposed on about 350,000 Haitian TPS holders nationwide.
“She’s depressed and afraid,” said Pierre, who said her aunt has lost her job. “She cries. She wants to help my mom, but she has no income. She is terrified of going out because she doesn’t know if she’ll get stopped [by federal immigration agents.”
“I don’t understand why [my aunt’s] life and the lives of thousands of other Haitians who’ve built their lives and families here don’t matter,” said Pierre, who works as a wheelchair agent at the Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood Airport.
Pierre was among dozens of Haitian immigrants and activists, religious clergy, members of Congress, union members and others speaking out across South Florida in hopes of persuading President Donald Trump and his administration to restore TPS to hundreds of thousands of Haitian immigrants.
The rally included airport workers who are union members of 32BJ SEIU, concessions and hotel workers from UNITE HERE, and unionized nursing home workers from SEIU 1199.
At the rally, Farrah Larrieux, a TPS holder and chair of the Miramar Haitian-American Residents and Business Owners Association, echoed Pierre’s disbelief about the administration’s decision to end TPS.
"If Haiti had the peace, stability, security, jobs, housing, and good governance that every Haitian dreams of it would not have been a problem for me to go back to my country,” Larrieux said. “But this is not the case. Why does Trump have such disregard for people's lives?"
The Trump administration announced in late November it was ending TPS for Haitians — despite reports from organizations like the United Nations that say conditions inside Haiti are as unsafe as they've ever been.
It takes effect Feb. 3, affecting at least 350,000 Haitian TPS holders and their families. South Florida is home to the nation's largest Haitian community and it includes an estimated 100,000 Haitian TPS holders.
TPS was created by Congress and is renewable every 18 months at executive discretion. It allows migrants from countries torn by disasters or political violence to remain in the U.S., protected from deportation, until it is deemed OK for them to go back.
Advocates for Haitian immigrants say Haitian TPS holders contribute about $5.8 billion to the U.S. economy and pay about $1.5 billion in taxes each year.
Helene O’Brien, Vice President of 32BJ SEIU, one of the unions that helped organized Wednesday’s rally, said the administration’s decision to end TPS for Haitians will force many to remain here illegally and hurt the U.S. and South Florida economy.
“By stripping legal status from people who are working legally today, the government is forcing workers further into the shadows, where they are more likely to be exploited and underpaid,” O’Brien said.
