Photo courtesy of Leftvoice.org

MIAMI – With Temporary Protection Status (TPS) for Haitian migrants set to end in August 2025, U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and fellow Democrats are urging the President Donald Trump administration to reverse its decision to revoke the program.

Timing is running out for roughly 500,000 Haitian migrants nationwide who face deportation if the extension of their TPS is not restored.

TPS was granted to Haitian, Venezuelan and other migrants by the President Joe Biden administration which allows them to work and live in the U.S. until the poor economic conditions and political upheaval improve in the homelands.

Biden granted an 18-month extension until 2026 shortly before he left political office, but the Trump administration eliminated the program two weeks ago.

Haitian migrants sought help from House representatives to spare them from deportation.

For Haitian migrants, the death toll from the escalating gang violence in Haiti has reached over 5,600 in 2024, according to the United Nations Humans Rights Commission, and Haiti is still rebuilding from the 2010 devastating earthquake.

Cherfilus-McCormick, a Democrat representing portions of Broward and Palm Beach Counties and the only Haitian American in Congress, is leading a letter-writing campaign to pressure U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Moem to restore TPS for Haitian migrants.

Cherfilus-McCormick was joined by U.S. Reps. Fredrica Wilson (D-Miami), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Broward County) and 32 other members of Congress.

“Across the country, [Haitians with TPS] have strengthened our workforce, supporting our airports, hospitals, small businesses and schools. Approximately 130,000 TPS holders work in essential sectors such as healthcare, construction, and food services, making significant contributions to federal, state, and local tax revenues,” the leader says.

She said the abrupt removal of over 500,000 workers will have an immense and irreparable impact on businesses across the country and the economy at large.

Collectively, TPS holders and their households contribute $2.3 billion in federal taxes and $1.3 billion in state and local taxes each year.

Wilson said the recission of Haitian migrants’ TPS is outrageous.

“I led my Congressional colleagues in objecting to the administration’s decision and I urge them to reverse their decision immediately because sending folks back to Haiti is a kiss of death,” Wilson said on social media.

No word yet from the Trump administration on the urgency to restore TPS for migrants.

Earlier this month, Noem defended the decision to rescind TPS, saying the system has been exploited and abused.

For example, she said Haiti has been designated for TPS since 2010 and data shows each extension of the country’s TPS designation allowed more Haitian nationals, even those who entered the U.S. illegally, to qualify for legal protected status.

Noem said in May of 2011, DHS estimated that 57,000 Haitian migrants were eligible to register for TPS, and in 2021, about 155,000 Haitians were eligible under the new designation.

And by July 2024, the estimate soared to 520,694.