Haitian-American leaders press Trump not to deport TPS holders to dangerous homeland
By Carla Mendez
June 30, 2025 at 6:29 PM EDT
Top Haitian-American community leaders in South Florida are pleading to President Donald Trump to prevent a humanitarian disaster by reversing the administration decision to terminate Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for hundreds of thousands of Haitian immigrants.
They want the president to instead use his authority to grant Haitians what’s known as “deferred enforced departure,” a move that would effectively allow Haitians already here to stay in the U.S. without the threat of deportation for a specific period of time.
At a press conference organized Monday by the National Haitian American Elected Officials Network (NHAEON) in North Miami, immigrant advocates, clergy members, and elected officials condemned the administration decision announced Friday. They also denounced Florida's plans to build an immigration detention center in the Everglades, a project dubbed as “Alligator Alcatraz.”
TPS for Haitians is set to expire on September 2, following the administration’s decision to end protections that have been in place since the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.
The decision impacts an estimated 500,00 Haitians with TPS, including tens of thousands in South Florida, home to the largest concentration of Haitian immigrants in the country.
Without TPS, Haitian nationals without other forms of immigration status will lose their work authorization and protection from deportation. TPS is granted to those immigrants from countries deemed unsafe for return due to natural disaster or civil strife.
READ MORE: DHS announces termination of TPS for 500,000 Haitian immigrants in early September
“The Haitian community has contributed immensely to this nation, not only now, but since the 1700[s], and the U.S. has long played a role in shaping Haiti's challenges,” said Miami-Dade Commissioner Marleine Bastien, a longtime immigrant advocate for South Florida.
“Haiti is not safe," she said. "To send these people back would be a humanitarian disaster…What are we going to do? Are we gonna separate these families from their children?”
North Miami Councilwoman Mary Estime-Irvin said the decision is “just outright unjust.”
“This action comes mere days after the U.S. government warned its own citizens not to travel to Haiti due to extreme violence and instability. That contradicts and speaks volumes,” Estime-Irvin said.
The State Department this month updated their level 4 travel advisory, which strongly warns against American travel to Haiti due to widespread gang violence, political instability and humanitarian crisis conditions.
“On one hand, we recognize that Haiti is unsafe, and on the other hand, we plan to deport the very people who fled that danger. That contradicts, and that undermines the public trust,” Estime-Irvin said. “We cannot claim to be a nation of refuge and justice while turning our backs on the people fleeing chaos, violence, and despair.”
Haitian TPS holders next step
Vice Mayor of North Miami Kassandra Timothe pleaded with Haitian families to act quickly and seek legal assistance if they are having trouble understanding how this could impact them and their families.
“Seek legal advice at this moment. That is my plea to every family right now who does not understand what their plans are,” Timothe said.
She also called on those who are not directly affected to support their neighbors and offer aid.
“Yes, you can pray, yes, you can protest, but if you can reach out to that neighbor, maybe they may need some help with their legal fees.” Timothe said. “Maybe they may need your help translating some documents because they don't understand, or maybe they need your help just guiding them.”
The Biden administration had previously expanded TPS protections for Haitians, allowing many who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border — both legally and illegally — to qualify. It also used TPS at an unprecedented scale to protect migrants from countries like Afghanistan, Cameroon, Venezuela, and Ukraine.
‘Forced displacement on American soil’
State Sen. Shevrin Jones, a Democrat from Miami Gardens, condemned the administration’s TPS and slammed Gov. Ron DeSantis for pushing to build an immigration detention camp in the Everglades. Trump is scheduled to visit the facility — dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" — when it opens on Tuesday.
“Our state is rushing to open detention camps in the Everglades, hot tents, no plumbing, surrounded by swamp and surveillance built not to solve problems, but to make spectacles out of suffering,” Jones said. “When your solution to immigration is to strip people of dignity, you're not securing a state, you're shaming it.”
Jones called the TPS termination “forced displacement on American soil” and urged the public to take action before deportations are scheduled to start later this year.
“Vote like someone's family depends on it,” he said. “It might not have anything to do with you today, but I promise you the way that this Trump administration is going, tomorrow, it can be you.”
Prominent immigration lawyer Ira Kurzban called the administration’s move unprecedented.
Immigration lawyer Ira Kurzban spoke at the press conference, asking, "Do we really want to strip them (Haitians) of their legal status just to satisfy Republican cravings for more and more detention of our hardworking neighbors?” (2048x1536, AR: 1.3333333333333333)
“The treatment that they are now giving Haitians in regard to TPS has never been done in the history of temporary protected status dating back to 1990,” Kurzban said.
Kurzban said a pending federal lawsuit in New York, along with other court challenges, could slow or reverse the TPS decision.
“The only way to stop this kind of mass deportation is mass demonstration. Yes, and I call upon the Venezuelan, Cuban, Nicaraguan communities to join with Haitians to stop this outrage by demonstrating peacefully in the streets of Miami,” he said.
They want the president to instead use his authority to grant Haitians what’s known as “deferred enforced departure,” a move that would effectively allow Haitians already here to stay in the U.S. without the threat of deportation for a specific period of time.
At a press conference organized Monday by the National Haitian American Elected Officials Network (NHAEON) in North Miami, immigrant advocates, clergy members, and elected officials condemned the administration decision announced Friday. They also denounced Florida's plans to build an immigration detention center in the Everglades, a project dubbed as “Alligator Alcatraz.”
TPS for Haitians is set to expire on September 2, following the administration’s decision to end protections that have been in place since the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.
The decision impacts an estimated 500,00 Haitians with TPS, including tens of thousands in South Florida, home to the largest concentration of Haitian immigrants in the country.
Without TPS, Haitian nationals without other forms of immigration status will lose their work authorization and protection from deportation. TPS is granted to those immigrants from countries deemed unsafe for return due to natural disaster or civil strife.
READ MORE: DHS announces termination of TPS for 500,000 Haitian immigrants in early September
“The Haitian community has contributed immensely to this nation, not only now, but since the 1700[s], and the U.S. has long played a role in shaping Haiti's challenges,” said Miami-Dade Commissioner Marleine Bastien, a longtime immigrant advocate for South Florida.
“Haiti is not safe," she said. "To send these people back would be a humanitarian disaster…What are we going to do? Are we gonna separate these families from their children?”
North Miami Councilwoman Mary Estime-Irvin said the decision is “just outright unjust.”
“This action comes mere days after the U.S. government warned its own citizens not to travel to Haiti due to extreme violence and instability. That contradicts and speaks volumes,” Estime-Irvin said.
The State Department this month updated their level 4 travel advisory, which strongly warns against American travel to Haiti due to widespread gang violence, political instability and humanitarian crisis conditions.
“On one hand, we recognize that Haiti is unsafe, and on the other hand, we plan to deport the very people who fled that danger. That contradicts, and that undermines the public trust,” Estime-Irvin said. “We cannot claim to be a nation of refuge and justice while turning our backs on the people fleeing chaos, violence, and despair.”
Haitian TPS holders next step
Vice Mayor of North Miami Kassandra Timothe pleaded with Haitian families to act quickly and seek legal assistance if they are having trouble understanding how this could impact them and their families.
“Seek legal advice at this moment. That is my plea to every family right now who does not understand what their plans are,” Timothe said.
She also called on those who are not directly affected to support their neighbors and offer aid.
“Yes, you can pray, yes, you can protest, but if you can reach out to that neighbor, maybe they may need some help with their legal fees.” Timothe said. “Maybe they may need your help translating some documents because they don't understand, or maybe they need your help just guiding them.”
The Biden administration had previously expanded TPS protections for Haitians, allowing many who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border — both legally and illegally — to qualify. It also used TPS at an unprecedented scale to protect migrants from countries like Afghanistan, Cameroon, Venezuela, and Ukraine.
‘Forced displacement on American soil’
State Sen. Shevrin Jones, a Democrat from Miami Gardens, condemned the administration’s TPS and slammed Gov. Ron DeSantis for pushing to build an immigration detention camp in the Everglades. Trump is scheduled to visit the facility — dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" — when it opens on Tuesday.
“Our state is rushing to open detention camps in the Everglades, hot tents, no plumbing, surrounded by swamp and surveillance built not to solve problems, but to make spectacles out of suffering,” Jones said. “When your solution to immigration is to strip people of dignity, you're not securing a state, you're shaming it.”
Jones called the TPS termination “forced displacement on American soil” and urged the public to take action before deportations are scheduled to start later this year.
“Vote like someone's family depends on it,” he said. “It might not have anything to do with you today, but I promise you the way that this Trump administration is going, tomorrow, it can be you.”
Prominent immigration lawyer Ira Kurzban called the administration’s move unprecedented.
Immigration lawyer Ira Kurzban spoke at the press conference, asking, "Do we really want to strip them (Haitians) of their legal status just to satisfy Republican cravings for more and more detention of our hardworking neighbors?” (2048x1536, AR: 1.3333333333333333)
“The treatment that they are now giving Haitians in regard to TPS has never been done in the history of temporary protected status dating back to 1990,” Kurzban said.
Kurzban said a pending federal lawsuit in New York, along with other court challenges, could slow or reverse the TPS decision.
“The only way to stop this kind of mass deportation is mass demonstration. Yes, and I call upon the Venezuelan, Cuban, Nicaraguan communities to join with Haitians to stop this outrage by demonstrating peacefully in the streets of Miami,” he said.