Haitian quake victims in the U.S. will lose deportation protection in 2019
The special deportation protection known as Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, will be revoked for as many as 59,000 Haitians living and working in
The protection will permanently terminate
"With this decision, the law is relatively explicit that if the conditions on the ground do not support a TPS designation, then the secretary must terminate the TPS designation," a senior administration official said on a call with reporters Monday night to announce the decision. "The conversations she had were constructive. They were informative. They were helpful. And we fully expect that in the 18 months coming up, the acting secretary will continue those conversations with the members on the Hill and the Haitian government to prepare for the return of Haitian [TPS] recipients."
The decision comes 14 days after
The announcement, while pleasing to immigration hardliners who argue that the provision was never meant to be permanent, deals a hard blow to longtime Haitian and immigration advocates. For months they have lobbied the Trump administration to extend the status for at least 18 months. It had been set to expire
"
Members of
TPS holders were shocked by the news. While they had hoped for 18 months more in the country, they didn't expect that window to end in termination of the protection.
"I do not believe I will survive one month in
In May, Duke's predecessor, John Kelly -- now Trump's chief of staff -- announced a limited extension of six months for Haitians. It took effect
But that decision came with a strong signal from Kelly that it would likely be
Enacted in 1990, TPS allows nationals from countries facing civil strife or major natural disasters who are already in
According to a recent study by the
TPS advocates have maintained that terminating the program would be cruel and families would be torn apart. And
"Some disasters take a long time to recover from," said
But
The lack of a decision on Honduran TPS holders had some advocates hoping that nearly 200,000 Salvadorans may also be spared. Their status expires in
Murray and others said the non-decision on
"It seems to us as outsiders, the folks who are most familiar with country conditions in these foreign countries are most inclined toward an extension. Those who are removed from country conditions and focused more on the politics of it have leaned the other way," Murray said after the
In
And the country remains vulnerable. Hurricane Matthew hit the southern region and created
"
"As many of these countries struggle to rebound from these hurricanes, Haitian expatriates working there have found themselves unable to support their families back home, further complicating
Despite Altidor's forceful advocacy, and that of Rodrigue, the
Relations between the two nations have been at best tense, with
Duke's decision to allow an 18-month delay was informed by lobbying from Altidor and Rodrigue, a senior administration official said. Duke met with members of the
She worked to understand conditions on the ground in
"Only
While the
Meanwhile, the budget recently passed by
"This administration has already spoken as to conditions on the ground," Jawetz said referring to the May decision that said "Although
"In the intervening months, we had hurricanes Irma and Maria and a worsening food insecurity crisis," Jawetz said. "The collection of factors on the ground between
Herald staff writers
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