A ruling made yesterday by a federal judge in California temporarily blocking the Trump Administration’s threatened deportation of Haitian refugees is winning praise from state Senator Daphne Campbell (D-Miami).
“This brings me great joy. I advocated for an extension and was pleased when the Trump Administration extended the program for an additional 18 months. However, I was disheartened when he ended the program indefinitely,” said Senator Campbell, who originally hails from the small Caribbean nation. “The decision made by Judge Edward Chen gives many Haitians and other immigrants a sigh of relief. It allows them to hope and know that we are fighting daily on their behalf.”
Almost one year ago today, the Trump Administration decided to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for over 300,000 foreign nationals from the following countries: El Salvador, Honduras, Haiti, Nicaragua, Nepal, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, and South Sudan. Alarmed by Trump’s reversal, Senator Campbell traveled to the nation’s capital to make a direct appeal to extend Haiti’s TPS for at least 18 months beyond its scheduled January 22, 2018 expiration. The Trump Administration decided to extend Haiti TPS until July 22, 2019, but terminating the program as a whole.
On October 3, 2018, Judge Edward Chen temporarily blocked this immigration move by the Trump Administration by granting a preliminary injunction stopping the government from terminating temporary protected status for immigrants from Sudan, El Salvador, Haiti and Nicaragua. The ruling stated that the government must maintain TPS, and employment authorizations for TPS beneficiaries from those countries, while a lawsuit challenging the government’s decision to eliminate their protections continues.
During the 2018 Legislative Session, Senator Campbell filed Senate Memorial (SM) 442 Haiti Temporary Protected Status and SM 888 Extending Status protection for Eligible Refugees with Established Residency (ESPERER) Act of 2017. Both were earmarked for the President of the United States, the Secretary of the United States Department of State, and the Secretary of the United States Department of Homeland Security urging both the extension of Haiti TPS and allowing those immigrants who received TPS before January 13, 2011, to adjust their status to legal permanent residency.
