MIAMI (WSVN) - Hundreds of thousands of Haitians in the United States who are facing a deadline ending their temporary protected status received a brief reprieve after a court order extended it three more days.
TPS for more than 300,000 people was set to expire Friday, following a Supreme Court decision giving the green light to the Trump administration to revoke this legal protection.
But a court order issued Wednesday night by a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., states that those protections have to remain in place until at least Monday, bringing a small sigh of relief for those Haitians who call South Florida home.
The court order came hours after Miami-Dade County leaders and community advocates held a press conference in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood.
“This week is the critical week for our future,” said Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
The late night ruling comes as protection from deportation was set to end Friday.
Leaders at Wednesday’s press conference called for more time and stressed the importance of the Haitian community.
“These are taxpayers, homeowners, business owners. These are consumers to support local businesses, and they are business owners,” said Miami-Dade District 2 Commissioner Marleine Bastien. “Ninety-five percent of Haitian TPS holders are employed. Ninety-five percent. Together, they contribute nearly $5.8 billion to the U.S. economy each year.”
Haitians were first granted TPS in the aftermath of the devastating 2010 earthquake that left hundreds of thousands of people dead, yet the push from the Trump administation to end their protection comes as the country remains under a Level 4 do not travel advisory due to widespread gang violence, civil unrest and limited emergency services.
“If those thousands and thousands of TPS recipients are deported back to Haiti, they will return to a nation that is 10 times worse than when TPS was awarded in 2010,” said Bastien.
While this extension is just three days, loical leaders continue to urge senators to pas Senate Bill 4814, which would extend TPS for Haitians for another three years.
“We call upon our senators, Ashley Moody and Rick Scott, to do the right thing,” said Levine Cava.
The Supreme Court is expected to hand this case back over to the district court on Monday.
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