Following President Donald Trump’s administration’s recent announcement that it will be ending Temporary Protected Status for half a million Haitians in the U.S., many Haitians in Massachusetts, which is home to the country’s third-largest Haitian population, fear they are at risk of losing their work permits or being deported.NewsCenter 5 spoke with a Haitian man who said he doesn’t know where he’ll go, but said going back home to Haiti just isn’t an option.”I will be killed ,” the man said.He has had TPS since 2021, able to legally live and work in the U.S., after he fled Haiti when he was threatened by gangs.”I come here to the U.S. just to protect my life,” he said.TPS is given to those who will face hardships if they went back to a country in conflict or dealing with natural disasters.Critics said renewing it has become automatic.NewsCenter 5 spoke with a Homeland Security spokesperson who said, “We are returning integrity to the TPS system, which has been abused and exploited. Trump and Sec. Kristi Noem are returning TPS to its original status, temporary.”Jessica Vaughan of the Center for Immigration Studies said former president Joe Biden’s administration pushed the limits of TPS, adding many weren’t living in Haiti when they came to the U.S.”More than 75 % of the people who have TPS now from Haiti have just arrived within the last four years,” Vaughan said. “In most cases, they came from other countries, not from Haiti, but in places like Chile and Brazil, where they had permits and jobs.”Immigrant advocate Pastor Keke Fleurissaint said Haitians are making major contributions to the country.”They are lawyers, medical doctors administrators, and they’re fleeing violence in Haiti,” Fleurissaint said.The man who spoke to NewsCenter 5 said he is afraid of going back.”It’s a bad idea to go back to Haiti,” he said.The decision means that Haitians would lose their work permits, which could be removed by August.
Following President Donald Trump’s administration’s recent announcement that it will be ending Temporary Protected Status for half a million Haitians in the U.S., many Haitians in Massachusetts, which is home to the country’s third-largest Haitian population, fear they are at risk of losing their work permits or being deported.
NewsCenter 5 spoke with a Haitian man who said he doesn’t know where he’ll go, but said going back home to Haiti just isn’t an option.
“I will be killed [if I go back],” the man said.
He has had TPS since 2021, able to legally live and work in the U.S., after he fled Haiti when he was threatened by gangs.
“I come here to the U.S. just to protect my life,” he said.
TPS is given to those who will face hardships if they went back to a country in conflict or dealing with natural disasters.
Critics said renewing it has become automatic.
NewsCenter 5 spoke with a Homeland Security spokesperson who said, “We are returning integrity to the TPS system, which has been abused and exploited. Trump and Sec. Kristi Noem are returning TPS to its original status, temporary.”
Jessica Vaughan of the Center for Immigration Studies said former president Joe Biden’s administration pushed the limits of TPS, adding many weren’t living in Haiti when they came to the U.S.
“More than 75 % of the people who have TPS now from Haiti have just arrived within the last four years,” Vaughan said. “In most cases, they came from other countries, not from Haiti, but in places like Chile and Brazil, where they had permits and jobs.”
Immigrant advocate Pastor Keke Fleurissaint said Haitians are making major contributions to the country.
“They are lawyers, medical doctors administrators, and they’re fleeing violence in Haiti,” Fleurissaint said.
The man who spoke to NewsCenter 5 said he is afraid of going back.
“It’s a bad idea to go back to Haiti,” he said.
The decision means that Haitians would lose their work permits, which could be removed by August.