US Human Rights News to extend temporary deportation protection to Haitians

The United States will extend temporary protection against exile to Haitians already in the country, the Department of Homeland Security said on Saturday that immigration advocates have hit “long ago.”

It protects the Temporary Protected States (TPS) from deporting migrants from designated nations and gives them work permits in the US because it would not be safe to return to their countries due to a crisis, such as an armed conflict or natural disaster.

The new 18-month appointment will apply to Haitians who have lived in the U.S. since May 21 and meet other eligibility criteria, Interior Security Secretary Alejandro Majorkas has announced statement.

“Haiti is currently experiencing serious security concerns, social unrest, increasing human rights violations, crippling poverty and a lack of basic resources as the COVID-19 pandemic escalates,” Mayorkas said.

“After careful consideration, we decided that we needed to do what we could to help Haitian citizens in the United States, until the conditions in Haiti improved, so that they could return home safely.”

Former US President Donald Trump wanted to cancel the TPS for Haiti in 2018, but the courts blocked his effort.

Lawmakers and immigration advocates have called on President Joe Biden, who took office in January, to expand the program with a commitment to reverse some of Trump’s toughest anti-immigration policies. TPS was first offered to Haitians after the 2010 earthquake destroyed the country.

Dozens of people in the U.S. state of Florida, a large Haitian community in and around Miami, have protested this week to demand an extension of the TPS program, local media reported reported.

The new TPS designation “will retain approximately 150,000 [Haitian] individuals due to harm, “said Senator Bob Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in writing statement.

“While Haiti is going through a serious political and security crisis and faces ongoing humanitarian challenges, this decision provides urgent protection to eligible Haitians in the United States,” he said.

He has lived in Haiti months of political instability and violence is on the rise, and it is also fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier this year, Haitians took to the streets in demonstrations over the controversial authority of President Jovenel Moise. During his tenure, most legal experts and civil society groups said it ended on Feb. 7. But the president and his supporters have stressed that it is only a five-year term. It expires in 2022.

“Today’s news is the result of many hours of organization, defense, and mobilization among black immigrants,” said Patrice Lawrence, co-director of the UndocuBlack Network, a group that defends current and former undocumented blacks in the United States.

“But as we celebrate today’s news, we know it’s just getting started. Other majority black countries, including Cameroon, Mauritania, the Bahamas and St. Vincent, should receive TPS designation immediately, “Lawrence said. statement.

“I am delighted to know that 150,000 families who can sleep well tonight are safe because they have been re-appointed to TPS Haiti. We are grateful, hopeful and gratifying,” said Guerline Jozef of the Haitian Bridge Alliance community group. he tweeted.

The Center for Refugees and Immigrants for Education and Legal Services (RAICES-Texas) rights group also said the decision was “long overdue” but that more work needs to be done to protect TPS holders.

“Without reshaping the TPS, Haitians have lived in uncertainty in recent months. In the future, this can surely be resolved through a lasting solution through legislation that puts TPS holders on the path to citizenship,” the group tweeted.

Without reshaping the TPS, Haitians have been living in uncertainty in recent months. In the future, this can surely be resolved through legislation that puts TPS holders on the path to citizenship.

– RAICES (@RAICESTEXAS) May 22, 2021

Migration advocates also sounded the alarm earlier this year about reports that the Biden administration was returning Haitian immigrants to Haiti. 42. title, A public health directive passed by former President Donald Trump.

The Haiti Bridge Alliance, Quixote Center and UndocuBlack say they have sent about 1,200 people to Haiti after trying to enter the U.S. on the southern border of Mexico from February 1 to March 25.

“Haitian migrants flee violence, instability and harassment in Haiti and then make a long and treacherous journey to the U.S. and Mexican border in search of safety and security in the United States,” said Nicole Phillips, legal director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance statement Along with a report on the 42 expulsions of the titlePDF).

“Instead of security, immigration officials are abused and, under the policy of Title 42, fled the country briefly expelled without any chance of seeking protection. This report explains that these deportations are not only tragic, they are illegal.”

Haitian asylum seekers have also returned to Mexico under Title 42, and have complained racism and harassment In the border towns of Mexico.

Haitian immigrants and supporters gather in New York to reject decision to end Haitian TPS in 2017 [File: Eduardo Munoz/Reuters]

But despite the challenges they face in Mexico, Haitian migrants told Al Jazeera that they have no choice but to stay last month.

“My family had nothing in Haiti, no home, no food, no money,” said Haitian asylum seeker Edile Eglaus, who lives in a migrant shelter on the outskirts of Tijuana with his wife and two children. “It doesn’t matter. It’s impossible to go back to that.”