New York, NY—Yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security announced the extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti for an additional 18 months, from February 4, 2023, through August 3, 2024. Secretary Mayorkas also redesignated Haiti for TPS, allowing Haitian nationals residing in the United States as of November 6, 2022, to apply for TPS through August 3, 2024, so long as they meet all eligibility requirements. Haitians entering the United States after November 6, 2022, however, are not eligible for TPS.
According to the National Immigration Forum, more than 55,000 Haitians are enrolled in the program, including more than 9,000 in New York State. New York City is home to the country’s oldest and largest concentration of Haitians of any metropolitan area in the United States.
Murad Awawdeh, Executive Director, New York Immigration Coalition:
“New York City is home to the largest community of any metropolitan area in the country, many of whom arrived here as refugees escaping violent displacement and climate disaster during an earlier time. The extension and redesignation of TPS for Haiti recognizes the ongoing political instability and continuing crisis in Haiti. This represents a victory for the Black- and Haitian-led immigrant rights organizations whose relentless advocacy made this extension and redesignation possible. We applaud the Biden administration for extending and redesignating TPS for Haiti, as Haitian New Yorkers cannot return to a country that continues to be unsafe and in turmoil. We urge DHS and the Biden Administration to include Haitians arriving in the United States after November 6, 2022 in the eligibility criteria for TPS for Haiti. We also continue to demand that President Biden extend the same life-saving protection to others at risk of removal to dangerous situations, and that the administration uproot anti-Blackness and dehumanizing policies within the immigration system.”
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