After recent visit to Haiti, congressman wants TPS for Haitians restored

A U.S. congressman from California is urging the Trump administration to reinstate Temporary Protected Status for Haitians, arguing that a recent visit to a violence-torn Haiti convinced him that conditions remain far too dangerous for hundreds of thousands of its nationals to safely return.

Rep. Ami Bera made the appeal in a letter Wednesday to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Secretary Markwayne Mullin. Bera, a physician and member of the House Foreign Affairs and Intelligence committees, was part of a bipartisan congressional delegation that visited Port-au-Prince last month, the first such visit in seven years.

“The conditions on the ground — widespread violence, mass displacement, acute hunger, and the collapse of essential services—are precisely the type of extraordinary and temporary circumstances that TPS was created to address,” Bera wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Miami Herald.

He called for the administration to restore the humanitarian protections in line with a bipartisan bill that was passed by the House in April that would extend TPS for more than 300,000 Haitian nationals through January 2029. The bill’s Senate counterpart has yet to be voted on. A fast-track motion to bring the measure to the floor was blocked in the Senate in late July, while advocates have been urging Florida Sens. Rick Scott and Ashley Moody to support or co-sponsor the extension.

Bera also urged the administration to ensure that the protections remain in place until conditions in Haiti have measurably improved.

The lawmaker was one of two Democratic and two Republican House members who traveled to Port-au-Prince. The bipartisan delegation was led by Florida Republican Rep. Brian Mast, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Florida Republican Kat Cammack and Illinois Democrat Jonathan Jackson also joined the trip, along with staffers from other congressional offices.

After the visit, Mast detailed the visit for Fox News, telling the outlet the realities of gang violence in Haiti was ever present. “Some of these areas are like Afghanistan,” he said as he also detailed efforts to win the release of 6-year-old girl who is a U.S. citizen who has been held by gangs since mid-June. The girl, who was kidnapped along with her father, chief of staff to the minister of defense, have still not been released.

In the letter, Bera cites the continuing grip of deadly gangs, which “continue to control 70% of Port-au-Prince,” and which have forced nearly 1.5 million Haitians to flee their homes. Hospitals, schools and other critical infrastructure remain damaged or inoperable, he said.

“Relocating Haitians to other parts of the country is not a viable solution,” Bera argued , responding to the administration’s position that Haitians don’t have to return to the capital. “Communities outside Port-au-Prince are already under significant strain from the lack of capacity to safely absorb additional returnees.”

In the letter, Bera challenged the Trump administration’s justification for ending TPS, which allowed eligible Haitians to legally live and work in the United States until conditions in their homeland improve.

In November, the Department of Homeland Security determined that there were “no extraordinary and temporary conditions in Haiti that prevent Haitian nationals” from safely returning, he said. DHS concluded that TPS for Haitian nationals was no longer warranted.

But Haiti remains under the State Department’s highest-level travel warning, a Level 4 “Do Not Travel advisory” advisory due to “crime, kidnapping, terrorism, unrest and limited health care,” Bera wrote.

DHS noted that had made the termination decision “in consultation with the appropriate U.S. government agencies,” but Ambassador Michael Kozak told lawmakers otherwise during a July 21 House Foreign Affairs Committee.

“Ambassador Michael Kozak responded ‘I don’t believe so,’“ Bera said.

Kozak, a senior official in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere affairs, was testifying at a hearing on Haiti. While Republicans pressed him with questions about the international community’s efforts to combat Haiti’s gangs and support for the new United Nations-authorized Gang Suppression Force, Democrats questioned him about TPS and whether conditions in Haiti could support the return of thousands of Haitians.

“Having now witnessed the conditions in Haiti firsthand, I can say that the Department of Homeland Security’s determination was not grounded in reality,” Bera wrote. “During my visit, I met with Haitian leaders who repeatedly warned that returning Haitian TPS holders to a country that is not yet prepared to safely receive them will further worsen a crisis already proving near impossible to manage.”

More than one million immigrants have lost deportation protections after the Trump administration terminated TPS for Haiti and a dozen other countries. In the case of the troubled Caribbean nation, the deportations moved forward after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for DHS to end the protections despite an ongoing lawsuit.

The loss of protection has left Haitians fearful and uncertain about what to do. Without work authorizations and the ability to drive, many have chosen for now, to remain home behind closed doors.

In Ohio, Haitians are being summoned to Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices and fitted with electronic ankle monitors. A representative of the Haitian Support Center there says at least 17 people have been detained following weeks of notices sent to Haitian residents with current or former addresses in Springfield, home to a significant Haitian community.

DHS officials have warned authorities in Haiti that with the end of TPS they intend to increase the number of deportation flights to the country to twice a week. On Thursday, one such ICE-chartered flight is scheduled to arrive with more than 170 deportees aboard. Among those being deported to Haiti are individuals placed under final deportation orders as recently as June.

In one case, a 39-year-old Haitian national had been placed under a final deportation order in 2017. He landed in ICE custody after he was arrested on July 28 by the police in Toledo, Ohio.

Effect on fight against gangs

Bera argued in the letter that large-scale returns of Haitians could hamper international efforts to restore security in Haiti. During his visit, he and the other lawmakers met with the leadership of the new gang-fighting force, which is working alongside Haitian security forces to take back territory from gangs.

“It would place enormous strain on already limited housing, food, employment, health care, and public services, while creating opportunities for criminal organizations to expand their influence,” he said.

Bera also stressed that Haiti’s stability is a matter of U.S. national security. He cited the country’s proximity, 700 miles, to the United States.

“Haiti’s success or failure has direct implications for regional stability, migration, and our national interests,” he said. “Allowing Haiti the time necessary to restore security and governance serves both our values and strategic interests.”