A resolution to extend Temporary Protected Status for Haitian migrants through 2029 successfully passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday, but the bill still faces considerable obstacles.
The measure now goes to the majority-Republican Senate. Should it clear that chamber, the White House has already told reporters that President Donald Trump will veto it.
The issue of TPS for Haitians will take center stage again in just two weeks when the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on the Trump administration’s case to end the program for Haitian and Syrian migrants. Previous attempts to end TPS were overturned by a federal judge earlier this year.
Instead of waiting for the court’s ruling, which could take months, federal lawmakers decided to make a clear statement in support of the more than a quarter of a million Haitian migrants living across the country.
During a speech on the House floor ahead of the vote, Democratic U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts reminded representatives that 1 in 5 health care workers are Haitian, as are 1 in 4 long-term health care workers.
“It is Haitian TPS holders who disproportionately served as caregivers and home health aides, who during the pandemic risked their lives to care for the sick and the ailing,” she said.
Pressley, who is co-chair of the House Haiti Caucus, represents Boston and its suburbs, which have the third-largest Haitian population in the country.
The TPS resolution passed the House 224-204. It received backing from 10 Republicans, most representing states with large Haitian populations like New York, Florida, and Pennsylvania.
The only Georgia Republican to vote in favor of the bill was 7th Congressional District Rep. Rich McCormick. His district stretches from Sandy Springs past Dahlonega including all of Forsyth, Lumpkin and Dawson counties and parts of Fulton, Cherokee and Hall counties.
Cassandra Charles, a local civil rights attorney and Haitian American, was happy to hear the U.S. Supreme Court announce that it will hear oral arguments on the Trump administration’s effort to end Temporary Protected Status for Haitians and Syrians.
“It signals the fact that the Supreme Court understands how important this issue is, that they’re willing to hear both sides arguing,” said Charles, who also serves as the director of advocacy for the African Immigrant Collective, a local nonprofit serving immigrant groups from the African diaspora.
Haitians were first granted protected status in 2010 after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the country causing widespread devastation. The earthquake killed or injured hundreds of thousands and left over a million people homeless in the Maryland-sized country.
For the past decade and a half, TPS has allowed for Haitians in the U.S. to build families and communities, an opportunity many other immigrant groups did not have.
The court’s decision will have major implications for the Haitian communities in Atlanta’s metro area, which now comprises the fifth-largest Haitian population in the country. Ending TPS could mean losing work authorization, and put many of the metro’s 15,000 Haitian-born residents at risk for detention and deportation. Nationwide, more than 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians could be affected.
“There are mixed [immigration] status families amongst the TPS holders,” Charles noted. “[If TPS is terminated], they’re going to have to make the hard decision [between] ‘Do I go back home, or do I stay undocumented and live in the shadows?’”
Ruth Prophete has called Atlanta home since the early 2000s and has seen the Haitian community grow significantly through her involvement with the Georgia Haitian-American Chamber of Commerce.
Born and raised in New York to parents from Saint-Louis-du-Nord, a commune on Haiti’s northern coast, she said the TPS ruling will impact Haitians in the U.S. regardless of immigration status.
“While you’re here [on TPS], while your paperwork is being processed, you’re able to work and contribute,” she said.
Prophete was also pleased by the Supreme Court’s announcement March 16 that it will hear oral arguments in the case.
“The fact that the judges are open to hearing the case is promising,” she said. “All we can do is hope and pray that the resolution is favorable.”
According to Charles, the court’s decision is significant because of its recent willingness to grant emergency relief decisions in favor of the Trump administration on hot-button immigration issues. These rulings are issued on the court’s “shadow docket” without oral arguments nor a written opinion from the justices explaining their decision.
“The [shadow docket] way, we don’t really know what the decision was based on,” Charles said.
The Trump administration has filed 74 shadow docket motions — 41 times in his first term and 33 so far in his second. In comparison, the Bush and Obama administrations filed eight shadow docket motions in almost two decades, while the Biden administration filed 19 in four years.
A recent analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School described the court’s record of siding with the Trump administration 80% of the time in his second term as an “abuse of the shadow docket.”
Recent shadow docket rulings have granted the federal government permission to deport people to countries they aren’t from and authorized immigration officers to investigate people based on appearance or use of accented English.
“That the Supreme Court is willing to hear arguments on this case is very important because when a decision is issued, [we] will understand the reasoning behind it,” Charles noted.
Returning to Haiti is simply not the best option for many immigrants, according to Prophete, who said many stateside Haitians left because of lack of opportunities at home and still financially support relatives living in the country.
“The reality is the government is still shaky,” she said. “If you recall a couple of years ago, sadly, the president was assassinated.”
While Prophete acknowledged much of the violence and instability is concentrated in and around Port-au-Prince, the capital city is home to approximately one-third of the country’s population.
“There are folks here who left on the backs of others,” she said. “Speaking not only on behalf of Haitians but across the immigrant community, most people are literally just coming to make a life for themselves.”
Read More:
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- What to Do If You’re Detained or Questioned by ICE in Atlanta
- Amid ICE Sweeps and Travel Bans, Here’s How to Support Black Immigrants in Atlanta
This story has been updated.
