Biden widens deportation relief for Haitians in U.S., including parole program recipients

Over half-a-million Haitians already in the United States will be eligible for deportation protections after the Biden administration announced it is expanding a federal program that allows nationals of Haiti to temporarily live and work here amid their Caribbean nation’s worsening gang violence and humanitarian crisis.

Department of Homeland Secretary Alejando Mayorkas announced on Friday that the agency would extend and redesignate Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for Haiti for 18 months. The agency cited the country’s ongoing violence and insecurity, and Haitians’ “limited access to safety, health care, food and water.”

To benefit, Haitians need to have been in the U.S. as of June 3. One of the largest groups of Haitians expected to benefit under the Biden plan are those who arrived in the U.S. as part of a two-year humanitarian parole program. Currently, there are approximately 214,000 Haitians who are receiving TPS benefits. Another 309,000, including those here under the humanitarian program, may become newly eligible following Friday’s announcement.

Haitians enrolled in TPS are protected from deportation and can apply for work permits. The designation, once targeted for termination by President Donald Trump during his administration, is reserved for countries in turmoil as a result of devastating natural disaster, armed conflict or other extraordinary conditions.

“We are providing this humanitarian relief to Haitians already present in the United States given the conditions that existed in their home country as of June 3, 2024. In doing so, we are realizing the core objective of the TPS law and our obligation to fulfill it,” Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement.

Haitians enrolled in TPS are protected from deportation and can apply for work permits. The designation, once targeted for termination by President Donald Trump during his administration, is reserved for countries in turmoil as a result of devastating natural disaster, armed conflict or other extraordinary conditions.

The redesignation comes amid a period of extreme turbulence in Haiti as gangs attack neighborhoods and institutions and threaten to overthrow the country’s government. Gang violence killed and injured around 2,500 people during the first three months of this year. Nearly 580,000 are internally displaced, according to a recent U.N. report. While TPS is not a pathway to permanent residency or citizenship, it allows program recipients to temporarily reside and work in the U.S. until conditions in their country improve.

Homeland Security acknowledged that the country is experiencing “overlapping humanitarian challenges,” including ongoing devastation and vulnerability from natural disasters, such as earthquakes, storms and flooding, that have led to thousands of deaths in recent years. While TPS is not a pathway to permanent residency or citizenship, it allows program recipients to temporarily reside and work in the U.S. until conditions in their country improves.

The new designation will run from August 2024 through February 2026. It will benefit many immigrants and their loved ones in South Florida, home to one of the largest Haitian communities in the U.S. Many Haitian newcomers have arrived in the Miami metro area in recent years, both through the U.S.-Mexico border and by sea. A boat carrying over 100 Haitian migrants arrived in Key West on Wednesday.

READ MORE: More than 100 Haitian migrants land in Key West. They spent seven days at sea

In recent years, Haitians abroad have helped contribute billions in remittances to families and friends back in the country, where the ongoing violence has shuttered businesses, hospitals and schools. The U.N. has said almost half of the population, about 5 million Haitians, face hunger.

“The echo of this long overdue announcement has been felt not only throughout the Haitian diaspora, but also in Haiti’s most remote corners where families depend on the uncertain fate of TPS beneficiaries,” said Frandley Julien, an immigration attorney in South Florida. “Once this election is over, the task will be to secure a permanent solution for these people.”

The upcoming TPS redesignation for Haiti is the latest major immigration action from President Joe Biden. His administration has been under pressure to curb irregular migration amid a high volume of migrants coming to the southwest land border in recent years.

Nearly a month ago, the federal government announced it would generally ban migrants who cross the border unlawfully from receiving asylum during periods where authorities register a certain of migrant encounters there. It’s a policy that has ignited collective furor among immigration advocates. Almost two weeks ago, the administration announced a process that eliminated a major barrier for the undocumented spouses of Americans who have lived here over a decade to apply for permanent residency.

Critics of TPS have historically expressed concerns that it will encourage more people to migrate, though people can only benefit from TPS if they were in the country before a certain cutoff date. DHS emphasized in its statement on Friday announcing the new redesignation that Haitians who came after June 3rd would not be eligible for the protection and would face deportation if they could not establish a legal basis to stay in the U.S. That measure will benefit about half-a-million people.

Parole program recipients eligible

Haiti received a Temporary Protected Status redesignation after the devastating 2010 earthquake, which the Caribbean country’s government estimates killed over 300,000 people. The program has continued despite the Trump administration’s attempts to end the relief for immigrants from Haiti, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and other countries.

The Biden administration first redesignated TPS for Haiti in the weeks after the July 7, 2021, assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. It then pushed the cutoff date through another redesignation so Haitians that had arrived before November 2022 could apply for the immigration relief.

Among the biggest beneficiaries of Friday’s decision are many of the over 193,000 Haitians who have arrived in the U.S. through a humanitarian parole process from the Biden administration for citizens of Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. The parole program allows people from the four countries to live and work in the U.S. for two years as long as they have a financial sponsor and pass health and background checks, among other requirements. Cubans who come through the separate parole process can get green cards after a year and one day under the Cuban Adjustment Act. But the pathway for Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans to stay in the United States after their two years ends is unclear. The TPS redesignation is a new avenue for Haitian recipients of the parole program to temporarily stay in the United States that was previously unavailable before Friday.

Haitian leaders, lawyers, and immigration advocates have fought for months behind-the-scenes for a TPS expansion that included parole beneficiaries. Dozens of members of Congress also urged Homeland Security and the State Department to support a redesignation while calling on the administration to halt deportations to Haiti to “prevent further suffering and unnecessary loss of life.” Biden and his immigration officials have come under fire from advocates for continuing deportations to Haiti.

“We welcome and applaud Secretary Mayorkas and the Biden-Harris administration for listening to the voices of our community,” said Guerline Jozef, a Haitian advocate who led the campaign for the extension and redesignation of TPS for Haiti. “This didn’t just happen. It is the result of a long fought organized campaign, courageous community members and allies turning this dream into reality” she said.

Still, Jozef said with those who arrive after June 3 not eligible for the program, they continue to call on the Biden administration to halt all deportations to Haiti.

“Redesignating Haiti for TPS is not only a compassionate response but a necessary one,” said Tessa Petit, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Coalition, which described the move as a “lifeline.”

“The conditions in Haiti make it impossible for people to return safely. This decision will save lives and help keep families together,” Petit said. “This move will not only benefit the Haitian community but also contribute significantly to the American economy. Haitians in the U.S. have been, and will continue to be vital members of our society, contributing to the economic and cultural fabric of our nation.”

Since February 29, criminal gangs in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, have broken out thousands of inmates from prisons, and attacked neighborhoods, police stations, national institutions and hospitals. Following the forced resignation of former Prime Minister Ariel Henry, a presidential transitional council of Haitian leaders, with support from the U.S. and Caribbean Community, chose Garry Conille, a longtime U.N. civil servant to lead the country’s government transition.

Conille, who briefly served as prime minister between 2011-2012, recently installed a new government and named a new head of the police. On Tuesday, he received the first 200 police officers from Kenya as part of a long-delayed U.S. and U.N.-backed Multinational Security Support mission led by the East African nation.