WASHINGTON — Once presidential candidate Donald Trump and running mate JD Vance spread false claims about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, Haitian American Guerline Jozef knew trouble was coming to her community.
“As I’m watching the debate, Trump went there, and my heart dropped, because I knew in that moment this wasn’t going to go away,” said Jozef, who is also co-founder and executive director of the advocacy group Haitian Bridge Alliance.
The Haitian Bridge Alliance filed criminal charges against the politicians, prompting attacks from right-wing media moguls, members of Congress and their supporters. Then came the doxxing of personal information and the hate calls.
“We had to remove our address from the website, and we had to really close the office for fear that we could have been attacked at any time,” Jozef said.
As the Republican presidential ticket has spread unfounded claims about Haitian immigrants, their legal Temporary Protected Status has faced scrutiny as a tool of the Biden administration’s immigration policy.
TPS in policy and practice
Temporary Protected Status is a short-term immigration status that can be granted to countries undergoing “armed conflict, environmental disaster or other extraordinary and temporary conditions,” according to the Immigration Act of 1990. It allows residents of designated countries to receive protection from deportation in the United States for a period of six to 18 months.
Most recently, Vance said Haitian TPS beneficiaries in Springfield were “illegal immigrants” during the vice presidential debate on Oct.1. This prompted a live fact-check from moderators and motivated a political discourse on the legality of TPS policy.
Migration policy experts, including Julia Gelatt of the Migration Policy Institute, say that TPS’ congressional origins mean it has a firm base in immigration law.
“It exists under law, and its use within the bounds of that law is legal,” said Gelatt, who is the Associate Director of U.S. Immigration Policy for MPI.
Immigration attorney and spokesperson for the American Immigration Lawyers Association Shannon Shepherd said that TPS’ extensive background checks and legal authority ensures its protections for immigrants.
“When you apply for TPS, you are given just what it says, Temporary Protected Status, meaning you’re authorized to be here, you’re authorized to work here, you’re authorized to stay here,” Shepherd said.
The process of acquiring TPS includes registering within a specific period, submitting an application and paying filing fees of at least $80 for initial registration, not including work or travel authorization fees.
Immigrants must also submit to biometrics and extended background checks, according to Shepherd.
Crucially, TPS does not automatically offer a path to citizenship. But qualifying TPS beneficiaries can apply for other protectionary means to stay in the country.
As of March 31, 2024, there are approximately 864,000 TPS beneficiaries living in the United States from 16 countries, about one in five of which are Haitian, according to the Congressional Research Service.
The Trump administration tried to terminate TPS for Haiti in 2017, but faced legal challenges.
Under the Biden administration, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas reinstated Haiti’s TPS in 2021, extended the status three times and expanded eligibility for protections.
Since the Biden administration reinstated Haiti’s TPS, its beneficiaries have received better working opportunities without the fear of deportation, Gelatt said.
“TPS gives [immigrants] some security in the United States and gives them the ability to work legally, which allows them to find, usually, better paying jobs with better working conditions,” Gelatt said.
Community organizations can also be a resource for TPS beneficiaries. In addition to advocacy work, the Haitian Bridge Alliance provides free legal services for TPS applications through one-on-one consultations and community clinics, as well as virtual webinars and a national hotline.
Jozef said that TPS is a great benefit for Haitian immigrants, as it enables them to grow, contribute to their new communities and “live with dignity, even when it’s not permanent.”
“We have a lot of people with TPS who are business owners [and] homeowners, so the fact that they’re able to have this protection, even when it is temporary, we see a lot of people really using that,” Jozef said.
However, critics say TPS is flawed in its execution within the law.
Dan Stein, President of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said that the Biden administration has abused the powers of TPS and parole through its expansion of the programs.
Other scholars take issue with the extension of TPS designations over long periods of time. Mark Krikorian, Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies, said that the Department of Homeland Security’s continuous TPS designations fuel voters’ cynicism of the immigration system.
“If you want [TPS] to be temporary, then make it temporary, and the mechanism needs to be changed so that it can’t just be renewed forever,” Krikorian said.
What is the future for TPS and Haitian communities?
Living under TPS designation is like “living on the edge,” said Dr. Andre Peck the Executive Director of the Haitan-American Community Coalition in Brooklyn.
Dr. Peck said immigrants under TPS never know what’s going to happen to their status or their rights in the long term.
The future of Haitians’ TPS remains uncertain with the upcoming presidential election between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump said in an interview with NewsNation last Wednesday that he would revoke Haitians’ TPS and deport them, as he tried doing in his first term in office.
Gelatt said it’s hard to predict whether a future Harris administration would continue Biden’s expansive TPS policies due to Harris’ stronger stance on border security and the administration’s recent decision to halt a migrant parole program that includes Haitians, per CBS News last Friday.
When asked whether it would be feasible for migrants to return to Haiti following a possible TPS reversal, Dr. Peck said that “no one comes to a country for fun,” and that the situation in Haiti remains dangerous for immigrants.
“They are not really asking to come here. It’s that their life is actually in danger,” Dr. Peck said.
Regardless of the election’s outcome and future policy decisions, Jozef said that advocating for TPS is always an uphill battle.
“TPS is always in jeopardy, no matter who is in power. So we’ll continue to fight. That’s why we are here, and we will continue to fight,” Jozef said.
