Over 300,000 Haitians Granted Temporary Protected Status by Federal Government

June 28, 2024 TruthUSA

Currently, more than 860,000 people from 16 countries are registered for Temporary Protected Status, including individuals from Haiti, Venezuela, and Yemen.

On June 28, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that over 300,000 Haitians already in the United States would be granted temporary legal status until Feb. 3, 2026.

Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of DHS determined that Haiti deserved an extension and redesignation for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) due to ongoing “extraordinary and temporary conditions.”

Starting July 1, applications for temporary legal status will be open to an estimated 309,000 additional Haitian nationals as well as individuals without a nationality who previously resided in Haiti and have been in the U.S. since June 3.

Those eligible can also apply for employment and travel authorization.

Extensions of TPS will be granted to over 200,000 Haitians whose status was due to expire on Aug. 3, according to the Congressional Research Service.

TPS was created by Congress in 1990 to provide relief to citizens of countries facing natural disasters or civil strife. While it does not offer a pathway to permanent residency or citizenship, it is renewable for specific periods.

Earlier this year, Haiti made headlines due to escalating gang violence in and around its capital, prompting the evacuation of U.S. citizens and raising concerns among Florida officials about an influx of displaced individuals.

A report by the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration on June 18 revealed that over 500,000 Haitians were displaced, seeking refuge in provinces lacking resources, with over half of them being women and over half children.

The report also indicated that the entire country was in either Crisis Phase 3 or Emergency Phase 4 from March to June, illustrating the severe food security situation in Haiti.

DHS stated that Secretary Mayorkas’ decision was based on recurring challenges in Haiti from natural disasters, gang violence, and food insecurity, providing humanitarian relief to Haitians already in the U.S. as of June 3, 2024.

As of March 31, more than 860,000 foreign nationals in the U.S. were under TPS, with individuals from countries like Afghanistan, Cameroon, El Salvador, and Nepal among others, in addition to Haiti, Venezuela, and Yemen.

While TPS for 555 Somalis and 1,840 Yemenis is set to expire in September, others will be protected through the election season into 2025.

The Biden administration has taken steps to offer paths to residency for immigrants, such as the Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela (CHNV) asylum program and the CBP One app, among others.

Additionally, President Joe Biden introduced a program providing protection from deportation for certain illegal immigrants married to U.S. citizens or children of someone married to a U.S. citizen if they have resided in the U.S. for a minimum of 10 years by June 17.

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