Haitian community in US fears termination of protected status

Haitian community  residing in the United States fears the termination that looms over their migration status according to a report by Africa news on July 3rd.

A federal judge in New York on July 1st blocked the Trump administration from ending the TPS or temporary protected status for more than 500,000 Haitians residing within the United States. This legal migration status was introduced in the United States after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, which was renewed multiple times by the US government.

The Biden administration extended this scheme which led to more than 500,000 Haitians TPS extended till February 3rd, 2026, due to reasons such as gang violence, political unrest, a majour earthquake that occurred in 2021, and several other factors from court documents in the United States.

However, the Department of Homeland Security announced previously that it was terminating TPS for Haitians, which should be effective by September 2nd and would put more than 500,000 Haitians setting them for deportation back to their country.

Furthermore, Haiti is one of the countries that has been affected by the US travel bans for issues such as illegal migrations within the country which breeds many gangs and criminal network within the country.

This announcement hit hard for a barber named Sun-G who lives in Springfield, Ohio, a Haitian that is on TPS. He states, ‘’I was expecting they might shorten the TPS validity period… or even raise the application fee, which would’ve made it harder for some people to afford. But at least we would’ve had the option to renew, I never expected them to terminate it completely.’’

‘’I know I have a country. But do you think if my country were stable, I would have left it at my age to start over somewhere else?’’ He further added.

Sun-G states that uncertainty had already taken a toll on his business. Many of his clients who were on temporary immigration status parole have already lost their jobs and can no longer afford a haircut on a regular basis.

‘’You’ve built your own business, working hard to make it succeed.’’

‘’Suddenly, it feels like all the effort you put in means nothing, like you’ve been standing still this whole time. Now it’s as if you have to start all over again-from zero.’’ Sun-G states.

As Haiti Remains shackled by brutality and political unrest, gang violence numbers have been even higher displacing 1.3 million people across the country, which was stated by the International Organisation for Migration.

Africa news, Maghrebi.