In response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision to end Temporary Protected Status for Haitians, South Florida community leaders and Democratic congressional candidates on Friday urged the U.S. Senate to approve an extension of deportation protections for Haitians that passed the House on a rare bipartisan vote in April.
“ We're standing in a county where the Haitian people built. We're standing in a country where the Haitian people have contributed to,” said state Sen. Shevrin Jones, who is running for Florida's 24th House Congressional District. “So, no, [Haitians] should not go back home. We should do everything we can to work with Congress to ensure that they stay.”
Jones was among several speakers during a news conference on Friday organized by the Family Action Network Movement at the historic Toussaint Louverture Statue in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood.
READ MORE: ‘Devastating consequences’: Haitian community, supporters sound alarm after Supreme Court TPS Ruling
About 350,000 Haitians face deportation
The press conference took place the day after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 6-3 decision that clears the way for the Trump administration to swiftly end TPS for about 1.3 million immigrants, including about 350,000 Haitians. The decision is expected to take effect July 27.
The high court's decision has rocked South Florida, home to one of the largest Haitian diaspora communities in the United States.
Haitians were initially granted TPS in 2010 following a catastrophic earthquake, and protections were repeatedly extended as severe gang violence displaced more than a million people.
"This decision will have a devastating and destabilizing impact on Haitian families, our local economies, and communities across South Florida and the entire nation," FANM officials said in a statement before Friday's press conference.
Former Broward County Mayor Dale Holness, who is running a crowded race for the Democratic nomination for Florida's 20th House Congressional District, named Republican lawmakers in South Florida to help protect Haitian TPS holders from deportation.
“I call on Senator Ashley Moody, Senator Rick Scott, Congresswoman [Elvira] Salazar, Congressman [Carlos] Gimenez, and [Mario] Diaz-Balart, let your voice be heard,” said Holness. “Do the right thing and support our neighbors, support the people who are building our economy.”
Jones, Holness and FANM officials said S. 4814 in the U.S. Senate would help Haitian TPS holders avoid deportation by extending TPS for Haitians for at least three years.
The bill, which passed in April, was pushed forward by House Democrats with a group of Republicans over the objections of the GOP leadership. It has since languished in the U.S. Senate.
TPS allows people to live and work in the US
Congress created Temporary Protected Status in 1990 to prevent deportations to countries deemed dangerous, because of disasters, civil war or other violence or instability. It permits people to work legally in the U.S. but does not provide a path to citizenship. It can be renewed in increments of up to 18 months if the homeland security secretary deems conditions unsafe for return.
The Biden administration roughly doubled the number of people covered by TPS. The Trump administration ended those protections, insisting it was meant to be temporary, the countries are now safe and that President Joe Biden’s administration expanded the destination and poorly vetted its recipients.
TPS beneficiaries have, by definition, been living in limbo and their futures have been especially precarious under President Donald Trump, but the Supreme Court ruling delivered what could be a crushing blow to living and working legally in the United States.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
