The Biden administration has expanded Temporary Protected Status for Haitians in the face of a worsening gang crisis.
Hundreds of thousands of Haitians already in the United States will benefit from increased protections against deportation starting in August 2024 after the Biden administration decided to expand TPS, a federal program that allows struggling Haitian nationals to work and live in the United States amid growing gang violence in Haiti, the Miami Herald reported.
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Alejandro N. Mayorkas announced the extension and reassignment of Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months, from August 4, 2024 to February 3
2026. “We are providing this humanitarian assistance to Haitians already present in the United States based on the conditions that existed in their home countries as of June 3, 2024. In doing so, we are fulfilling the fundamental purpose of the TPS Act and our obligation to comply with it.”
“, did he declare.
Now, approximately 309,000 Haitian nationals who arrived in the United States on or before June 3, 2024, can file initial applications for TPS.
The decision came after the Department of Homeland Security reviewed the ongoing crisis caused by armed criminal gangs, which have forced nearly 580,000 people from their homes in the past three years and pushed more than a million to the brink of starvation, according to the United Nations.
To qualify for TPS, Haitians must be present in the United States through June 3, 2024. Currently, approximately 214,000 Haitians receive TPS benefits, but more than 300,000 additional migrants have become newly eligible under this new designation.
Haitians enrolled in TPS are protected from deportation and can apply for work permits. The designation, initially threatened with elimination under former President Donald Trump’s administration, is intended for countries facing unrest resulting from a devastating natural disaster, armed conflict or other extraordinary conditions.
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