With the end of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians in the U.S. fast approaching, experts tell WLRN that vulnerable members of that community should speak to an immigration lawyer to get clarity on their options.
Tessa Petit, the director of the Florida Immigrant Coalition in Miami, told a special episode of the South Florida Roundup at the Little Haiti Cultural Complex on Friday that it’s critical that immigrants know their rights and have a contingency plan in place.
“[Our advice] goes around planning for their families, planning for their children, making sure that they have all their i’s dotted and their t's crossed,” she said.
TPS currently shields more than 350,000 Haitians in the U.S. — with more than 100,000 of those in South Florida —from being deported to Haiti.
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.
In November, the Trump administration announced it was ending TPS for Haitians, effective Tuesday, Feb. 3, despite the country’s violent gang rule that has left a million and a half people homeless inside the island.
READ MORE: 'Depressed and Afraid': Haitian families reeling as TPS expires soon. Activists rally for extension
A U.S. federal court ruling in Washington may temporarily block the administration from ending TPS.
However, immigration experts, including Petit and immigration attorney Frandley Julien, advise Haitians relying on TPS to learn about other legal avenues and opportunities for them and their families.
Know your options
“Identify an immigration lawyer. Immediately discuss your situation. Find out if you are eligible for any other avenue,” Petit said.
Julien explained there are legal options available for some people in vulnerable situations, such as those with a removal order. He mentioned, as an example, the use of the settlement from the class-action lawsuit, Calderon Jimenez v. Mayorkas, that can protect noncitizen spouses of U.S. citizens who have old removal orders.
Know your rights
Apart from relying on existing legal precedent and court decisions, Petit said that it is crucial immigrants with TPS know their rights and ensure they are given due process if being detained or deported.
“We want people to make sure that they know their constitutional rights,” Petit said. “Even if TPS ends on Feb. 3, when they wake up on Wednesday, Feb. 4, they still have constitutional rights.”
Immigrants still have the right to not open their doors and to demand a warrant before letting law enforcement into their homes, she said.
Take action
The end of TPS assumes that Haiti can be designated as a safe country for immigrants to come back to. But recent rulings, like an appeals court decision that said the administration acted illegally when it ended TPS for Venezuelans, might mean that the termination of protections for Haitians will also be ruled against.
Ahead of the termination date for the protections, U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Massachusetts, started a "discharge petition" that would compel the U.S. House of Representatives to vote to extend Haitian TPS for three years. The petition needs 218 signatures in the House to move forward.
“Extending TPS for Haiti isn’t just the moral, humanitarian thing to do — it is also good policy, ensuring that our TPS holders, many of whom work in healthcare and elder care sectors, can continue their essential work and contributions to our communities,” said Pressley in a statement. "If the President won’t act to protect Haitian lives, then Congress must."
Local advocates and experts like Petit and Julien called for people to contact their congressional representatives and ask them to sign the discharge petition.
Farrah Larrieux, a Haitian TPS holder who appeared on Friday's South Florida Roundup, said returning to Haiti is not an option.
“ I can’t even wrap my head around the idea of I'm gonna pack 20 years of my life,” Larrieux told WLRN.
“For me, it’s a death sentence," said Larrieux. "For many of us it’s a death sentence.”
You can listen to the full conversation above or wherever you get your podcasts by searching: The South Florida Roundup.
