The Biden administration on Friday announced a new temporary protected status for Haitians who arrived in the U.S. on or before June 3, 2024, aimed at shielding even those who entered the country illegally from deportation to Haiti, which remains gripped by gang violence.
“We are providing this humanitarian assistance to Haitians who are already present in the United States, given the conditions that existed in their home country on June 3, 2024,” said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. “In doing so, we achieve the core objective of the TPS Act and our obligation to comply with it.”
Immigration advocates have called on the Biden administration to grant temporary protected status to recently arrived Haitians after violence erupted there earlier this year and Haiti’s president fled the country and resigned.
As Haitians fled violence this spring, the government continued to deport migrants intercepted at sea. According to the government, there were no plans to grant temporary protected status to more Haitians.
The U.S. previously granted temporary protected status to Haitians who arrived in the U.S. before the 2010 earthquake, renewing that group’s status through 2022. Friday’s announcement would protect an additional 309,000 Haitians living in the U.S. from deportation, according to DHS. Immigration advocates estimate it would bring the total number of Haitians in the U.S. with protected status to about 500,000.
Guerline Jozef, executive director of Haitian Bridge Alliance, said she was “thrilled” by the news but called for a long-term solution from Congress.
“I call on the U.S. Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform that would create permanent protections for all [temporary protected status] “recipients,” said Jozef.
She added that Haitians who qualify for the protections contribute nearly $31 billion to the U.S. economy.
More than 1,100 people have been killed, injured or kidnapped in Haiti, where gangs control 80% of the capital Port-au-Prince, according to activists.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
