Haitians’ protected status extended by six months

May 23--Haitians who were given temporary protection from deportation following a 2010 earthquake will be allowed to stay in the U.S. until at least January 2018, affecting about 100 Haitians in San Diego with temporary protected status.

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly announced Monday that his department will review conditions in Haiti at that time to determine whether to extend the protection again.

Senior department officials recommended that Haitians get their affairs in order so that they're ready to go back in January if the department doesn't extend the protection further.

The decision contrasts with former President Barack Obama's administration, which had extended temporary protected status or TPS for qualifying Haitians every 18 months.

"This six-month extension should allow Haitian TPS recipients living in the United States time to attain travel documents and make other necessary arrangements for their ultimate departure from the United States, and should also provide the Haitian government with the time it needs to prepare for the future repatriation of all current TPS recipients," Kelly said in a statement. "We plan to continue to work closely with the Haitian government, including assisting the government in proactively providing travel documents for its citizens."

Local minister and Haitian immigrant Jean Elise Durandisse was disappointed with the shorter extension. He said sending people back to Haiti would be a heartless decision and would hurt both American and Haitian economies.

"Haiti is going to take a long time to get rebuilt," Durandisse said by telephone. "Haiti right now is not a good place to send people back."

Some members of his congregation have temporary protected status and are worried about their futures, he said.

Jofiane Valsaint, 37, has spent most of her life since the earthquake in San Diego with her husband and children, she said.

She said worrying about being sent back soon keeps her up at night.

"It would be very sad. I don't know what to say," Valsaint said. "It's not like we don't like our country, but it's not ready yet for us to go back."

Her father still lives in Haiti, she said, and when they talk, he tells her about the situation there. She worries about housing, economic opportunities and medical care, she said. Her daughter, who was born in the U.S., has special medial needs that she does not think would be adequately taken care of in Haiti.

The Department of Homeland Security uses temporary protected status to keep people from getting deported to dangerous situations such as a civil war or environmental disaster.

Haitians who were in the U.S. by January 2011 following the earthquake and ensuing cholera outbreak are eligible for protected status, and only those who have had the status are eligible to re-register by July. Nationwide, there are 58,706 Haitians with temporary protected status, according to senior Homeland Security department officials.

San Diego saw a more recent influx of Haitians who left their country in 2010 to work in Brazil following the earthquake. They came through Central America to the U.S. last year looking for work after job opportunities from the World Cup and the Olympics dried up. Those Haitians do not qualify for temporary protected status.

Because of concerns about conditions back in Haiti, especially after Hurricane Matthew struck last October, the Obama administration struggled with how to handle newly arriving Haitians. They were alternately allowed into the U.S. on another temporary program, or they were detained and deported.

Advocates who hoped for an 18-month extension say those conditions should also be considered for Haitians who are eligible for temporary protected status.

Kelly based his decision on several factors, according to a news release, including that there are fewer displaced people living in camps. The Haitian government's plans to rebuild the National Palace in Port-au-Prince also contributed to his decision.

"TPS as enacted in law is inherently temporary in nature, and beneficiaries should plan accordingly," Kelly said in the release.

As the department worked to reach a decision by Tuesday's deadline, 60 days before the status was set to expire, a couple of leaked emails caused concern among advocacy groups that the status would not be extended at all.

One email contained instructions for department staff to research crimes committed by Haitians with temporary protected status. Senior department officials on a call Monday with reporters said such statistics did not factor into Kelly's decision nor were they able to provide any such data.

In a memo, the acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services recommended that Kelly let the status expire but give those affected until January to leave the U.S.

Those who pushed for an extension received Kelly's announcement with mixed emotions. Some, like Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami, whose district includes many Haitians and Haitian-Americans, vowed to use the six months to lobby for a longer reprieve for those affected. She invited Kelly to take a trip with her to Haiti as the U.S. does not currently have an ambassador there.

The San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium issued a statement calling the decision cruel and inhumane.

Laura Moreno, chairwoman of the consortium, called out President Donald Trump for a speech he gave in Miami's Little Haiti during his campaign where he promised to be Haitians' greatest champion.

"This is an opportunity for President Trump to fulfill his campaign promise by extending a program that has given earthquake survivors the dignity of work and safety while conditions in their country improve," Moreno said in an emailed statement. "Haiti is still in no condition to receive an estimated 58,000 people."

There are currently temporary protected status programs for people from 10 countries: El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Programs for natives of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone recently expired following resolution to the Ebola outbreak there.

The designations for Sudan and South Sudan are set to expire next. Kelly will have to decide by September whether to extend temporary status for Sudanese.

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