Across the U.S., more than 350,000 Haitians are preparing to lose their Temporary Protected Status, the government designation that prevents deportation to status holders because conditions in their homelands are so bad, it would be inhumane.
Protected status give recipients permission to live and work in the U.S. lawfully so long as there is a designation. And unless a judge intervenes, the Feb. 3 deadline is looming for Haitians who hold TPS.
Should they lose it, the impact is expected to be large, especially in Florida where some 100,000 Haitian TPS holders are in the workforce.
Many work in health care — in child care centers and nursing homes. Others are in construction, among other jobs.
"If it were to expire Feb. 3, what that mean is people would lose jobs, people would not be able to drive, would not be able to put food on the table for their families. Children would not be able to go to school because of a fear of being deported," said Beatrice Jacquet-Castor, president of the Haitian-American Community Coalition of Southwest Florida.
An immigrant from Haiti, Jacquet-Castor is a long-time advocate for Haitians. She's calling on people in Southwest Florida to show support for Haitians and gain a better understanding of what's going on here and in their homeland.
The public is encouraged to come to a Sunday forum in Fort Myers on where things stand and what may come for immigrants in America.
"These are people that have fled political violence, have fled economic collapse and humanitarian disasters, so many of those are still unsafe," she said.
Haitians were first granted TPS after the devastating earthquake in 2010. The decade and a half since have been filled with turmoil. Haiti is without a president since the 2021 assassination of Jovenel Moise.
Gangs are largely in control and it is so dangerous, U.S. commercial flights to the capital city of Port-au-Prince remain banned by the FAA.
"There are no jobs, there are no houses, so there's really nothing for the people to go back to. So yet they're now facing terrifying possibility of detention, deportation or family separation, on top of their country not being ready to take them in," Jacquet-Castor said.
Sunday's forum will be at 12:30 p.m. at Hallelujah Community Church, 3208 Central Ave., Fort Myers.
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