On Nov. 6, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that the Trump administration is ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 2,500 Nicaraguans, who have enjoyed it since January 1999. Meanwhile, on Oct. 31, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson sent a letter to acting DHS secretary Elaine Duke “to inform her that conditions in Central America and Haiti that had been used to justify the protection no longer necessitate a reprieve for the migrants,” reported the Washington Post.
These two events strongly suggest that the Trump administration will not renew TPS for 50,000 Haitians, whom the Obama administration granted the status following the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake. The DHS will announce its decision by Nov. 23.
Haitians’ current TPS expires Jan. 22, 2018. Once TPS is not renewed, its former recipients are usually given only six months to settle their affairs and leave the U.S..
The following interview was recorded live on Mon., Nov. 13, 2017 with:
Ira Kurzban, perhaps the most well-known and prestigious immigration lawyer in the United States. He publishes Kurzban’s Immigration Law Sourcebook, now in its 15th edition, which can be found on the desk of every imigration attorney in the U.S..
and
Marleine Bastien, who is the founder of FANM or Haitian Wormen in Miami, who has been at the forefront of the Haitian community organizing to demand an extension of TPS.
The interview was conducted by Kim Ives and Roger Leduc, co-hosts of “Lanbi Call” on WBAI 99.5 FM in New York.
