Saying scores of her Haitian constituents are being threatened with deportation, Democratic U.S. Rep. Frederica S. Wilson has written President Donald Trump and other top administration officials urging them to extend Temporary Protected Status to hundreds of thousands of Haitian nationals.
"My Haitian constituents are beginning to receive emails from the Department of Homeland Security urging them to self-deport and warning that if they do not, they will be arrested, deported, and barred from ever returning to the United States," Wilson said in a statement.
"They are terrified," she added.
READ MORE: Trump administration ends Temporary Protected Status for Haitians — in spite of gang terror in Haiti
The Trump administration announced in late November it was ending TPS for Haitians — despite continued reports from organizations like the U.N. that say conditions inside Haiti are as unsafe as they've ever been.
It takes effect Feb. 3, affecting about 500,000 Haitians and their families. South Florida is home to the nation's largest Haitian community.
TPS was created by Congress and is renewable every 18 months at executive discretion. It allows migrants from countries torn by disasters or political violence to remain in the U.S., protected from deportation, until it is deemed OK for them to go back.
TPS for Haitians was conferred in the wake of Haiti's catastrophic 2010 earthquake, which killed at least 200,000 people. Since then it has been renewed and expanded largely due to Haiti's collapsed public security.
Wilson said not renewing TPS for Haitians is "inhumane" and "a death sentence."
"Haiti is currently experiencing open warfare and widespread sexual violence," she said. "There is rampant violence against women and children. Schools are closed. Normal work and daily life have collapsed. People are forced to do what gangs tell them to do. This is a humanitarian crisis beyond belief."
More than a dozen U.S. House colleagues signed on to Wilson's letter, which was sent Friday to the White House. Among them: U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, and U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Boca Raton.
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