“Haiti is a country that is now, more than ever since its independence in 1804, between a rock and a hard place,” Woodson said.
‘Ongoing vulnerability’ in Syria
Spurred by pro-democracy protests in 2011, a Syrian civil war went on for more than a decade before the 2024 fall of President Bashar Assad’s government.
More than 15 million people in Syria are reliant on humanitarian assistance, and 1.2 million live in camp-like settings, “reflecting the scale of ongoing vulnerability” in Syria, according to the International Rescue Committee.
Tucson’s population of Syrians and Haitians — regardless of TPS status — is small, but about 3,400 Syrians and 2,600 Haitians live in Arizona, according to U.S. Census data.
Syrian refugees began arriving in Arizona after the start of the country’s civil war, with support from the state’s Refugee Resettlement Program. In fiscal year 2025, 184 Syrian refugees arrived in Arizona, a 42% decrease from the prior year, the program said.
But TPS is distinct from the U.S. refugee program in several ways: Refugee applicants apply from abroad, typically referred through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. Refugees are automatically authorized to work in the U.S. and, after one year, are eligible to apply for a green card.
TPS recipients must already be physically present in the U.S. when their country is designated unsafe. TPS holders can legally work, but they don’t have a direct path to permanent residency or citizenship.
In Tucson, the number of Syrian people with TPS protection is small because many already have permanent status, said Leila Hudson, associate professor in the School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies at the U of A.