A Haitian migrant girl looks through a bus window before being transported with her relatives to the Reynosa-Hidalgo International Border Bridge after being admitted into the U.S., with legal assistance, at the Senda de Vida Shelter in Reynosa, Mexico, May 23, 2022. Citing a continued worsening humanitarian crisis in Haiti, the Biden administration announced Dec. 5 it would allow more Haitian migrants already in the United States to apply for Temporary Protected Status, or TPS. (CNS photo/Daniel Becerril, Reuters)
~ by Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON – Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on December 5 announced a redesignation of Temporary Protected Status for Haiti and an extension of TPS for Haitian migrants already residing in the United States for an additional 18 months from February 4 – August 3, 2024.
He said this “much-needed humanitarian relief “for Haitians was compelled by current conditions in Haiti such as “socioeconomic challenges, political instability, and gang violence and crime – aggravated by environmental disaster.”
Mayokas’ decision came “after consultation with interagency partners and careful consideration of the extraordinary and temporary conditions in Haiti,” said a news release from the Department of Homeland Security.
It said the Caribbean nation has endured a prolonged political crisis, as well as “grave insecurity and gang crime that worsened a dire economic situation; a lack of access to food, water, fuel and healthcare during a resurgence of cholera; and the recent catastrophic earthquakes.”
Executive Director Gustavo Torres of CASA, an immigrant advocacy organization in Hyattsville, Maryland, said the Biden’s administration’s decision “restores security to our Haitian brothers and sisters that their lives here in the United States will not be uprooted nor that they will be separated from their families.”
“As we celebrate this win, we will continue to shed light on the millions of migrants still waiting on TPS designation for their countries,” Torres said. “The fight for immigrant justice continues as the fate of DACA holders and DACA-eligible youth hangs in the balance.”
He added, “We will not rest until the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and other protections are provided for the millions of immigrants that have built their lives in this country.”
The Washington Post was the first to report on December 5 that two members of the U.S. Senate are working on a bi-partisan framework for immigration reform that would allow a pathway to citizenship for the DACA recipients known as Dreamers.
According to the Post, the framework proposed by Senators Kyrsten Sinema, D-AZ, and Thom Tillis, R-NC provides for an overhaul of the asylum system “to prevent abuse of the law.”