Senator Warren, Colleagues Urge the Biden Administration for TPS Extension and Redesignation for Haiti as Worsening Living Conditions Force Thousands to Leave
Washington D.C. – U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) joined Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and 14 colleagues urging the Biden administration to immediately extend and redesignate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti, authorizing Haitian nationals in the United States to remain in the country until conditions improve in Haiti.
Haiti continues to face compounding crises, escalating gang violence, widespread civil and political unrest since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, reports of cholera deaths for the first time in three years, and an inability to get humanitarian assistance to more than five million Haitians that have forced thousands to leave their homes. The current TPS designation for Haiti is set to expire in February 2023.
“A redesignation of TPS will allow newly arrived Haitians in the United States to lawfully support themselves and the communities that have welcomed them,” the senators wrote. “Denying access to TPS to recent arrivals will neither serve as an effective deterrent to future border crossings, given Haitians’ desperation to flee dire conditions, nor cause them to leave the United States voluntarily in light of the continuing extraordinary conditions preventing their safe return home. It will simply ensure that Haitians will live in poverty and at risk of removal in the United States.”
Joining Senators Warren and Markey were Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.).
Senator Warren has consistently led ongoing efforts to protect the rights and well-being of TPS recipients, migrants, and asylum seekers, and to support the welfare of Haitian people:
- Last month, Senator Warren joined Senator Markey and Representative James P. McGovern (D-Mass.) calling for the U.S. to support the Haitian people’s desire to realize their democratic aspirations.
- In July 2022, Senator Warren joined Senator Menendez in a letter urging the Biden administration to issue a TPS designation for Venezuela.
- In March 2022, Senator Warren joined Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and several colleagues in a letter urging President Biden to designate Cameroon for TPS.
- In March 2022, Senator Warren joined Senators Durbin, Menendez, and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and 35 of their Senate colleagues in a letter urging President Biden to extend TPS to Ukrainians in the U.S. following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
- In November 2021, Senator Warren led a letter to the Office of Refugee Resettlement calling on them to coordinate with the government agencies of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to assist newly arrived families from Haiti.
- Also in November 2021, Senator Warren joined Senator Van Hollen and Senate colleagues in a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and President Biden supporting TPS designation for Cameroon.
- In October 2021, Senator Warren questioned Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Chris Magnus at his confirmation hearing about the treatment of Haitian migrants at the southern border.
- In May 2021, Senator Warren supported the Biden administration’s announcement redesignating Haiti for TPS for 18 months.
- In March 2021, Senator Warren joined Senator Hirono’s amicus brief before the U.S. Supreme Court in Sanchez v. Mayorkas, regarding TPS holders being denied green cards.
- In September 2020, Senator Warren called out the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision to end TPS for over 300,000 immigrants.
###
Next Article Previous Article
