Rep. Gillen seeks support for bill to extend TPS protection for Haitians living in US
Haitian-born U.S. citizen Mimi Pierre Johnson, of Elmont, center, said repatriating Haiti immigrants "is another layer of trauma" because of gangs controlling most of the country. Credit: Debbie Egan-Chin
Rep. Laura Gillen (D-Rockville Centre) announced Friday she introduced legislation this week with bipartisan support that would continue temporary protected status for Haitians now living in the United States, a status the Trump administration has announced it would end in August.
"The administration’s abrupt, unfounded decision to end temporary protected status for Haitians will have a devastating impact here on Long Island," Gillen said during a news conference at Bethany French Baptist Church in Elmont, a community with a large Haitian population. She said about 26,000 Haitians live in Nassau County.
A Homeland Security Department release last week announcing the decision to end TPS status for Haitians said about 520,000 Haitians were eligible to register for TPS in 2024, Newsday has reported. Gillen said 9% of them live in New York State.
Gillen, flanked by Haitian American activists, said, "Since taking office, I've urged both the last administration and the Trump administration to protect this vital program" for Haitians.
Gillen said she had joined colleagues from around the country in writing President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to reconsider the expiration of TPS status for Haitians.
"But if they won’t do the right thing and keep TPS in place for Haitians, Congress must take action," Gillen said.
She said she introduced legislation Thursday — H.R. 1689 — that had bipartisan support, citing Rep. Mike Lawler (R-Pearl River) and House Haiti Caucus co-chair Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) as co-sponsors. She added she was continuing to seek more.
The bill does not have a sponsor in the Senate.
In a Feb. 19 letter to Trump, Lawler urged TPS protections for Haitians to remain in place.
"For years, the security environment in Haiti has been spiraling out of control, leaving the country unstable and dangerous for communities still in the country," Lawler wrote. "With such a critical situation ongoing in Haiti, it is paramount that you maintain the current TPS designation for Haiti. … Conditions in Haiti are as dangerous as ever and continue to intensify daily."
Gillen said the bill would extend TPS protections for Haitians another 18 months beyond Aug. 3, when the Trump administration has said it would expire. Haitian immigrants were designated for TPS status in 2010 after an earthquake killed 300,000 people. Immigrants from other countries have received TPS status because of turmoil in their homelands.
Assemb. Michaelle Solages (D-Elmont), the first person of Haitian descent elected to the New York State Legislature, who joined Gillen at the church, said an effort was underway to organize a legal challenge to ending TPS status for Haitians, as Venezuelans facing a loss of their TPS status have done.
"They pay taxes. They have work permits," Solages said. "You may know a TPS holder but not even know they have that status because they're your neighbor. They're your friend."
Gillen said Haitians who lose their TPS status are "facing being sent back to certain life-threatening danger."
Mimi Pierre Johnson, founder of the Elmont Cultural Center and a Haitian American who has lived in Elmont for more than 25 years, put it in even starker terms.
"And as you watch mothers fleeing with their children in their arms … running through the streets, where are they going to go? Because the area that they’re running to, there’s a different gang that’s about to take over that area. This is what’s happening in Haiti right now."
Pierre Johnson continued, "That is a traumatic experience that I never thought, as an American citizen, I would feel. And to hear this callous, ‘Send them back. End this protection for them.’ It is another layer of trauma that happens to us here as Haitian Americans. So I implore all who can: voice their opinion. Stand with Congresswoman Gillen. Stand with all of those who … want to fight for the Haitian people."
She added, "Because you are signing a death sentence of a whole nation when you don’t care.”
Rep. Laura Gillen (D-Rockville Centre) announced Friday she introduced legislation this week with bipartisan support that would continue temporary protected status for Haitians now living in the United States, a status the Trump administration has announced it would end in August.
"The administration’s abrupt, unfounded decision to end temporary protected status for Haitians will have a devastating impact here on Long Island," Gillen said during a news conference at Bethany French Baptist Church in Elmont, a community with a large Haitian population. She said about 26,000 Haitians live in Nassau County.
A Homeland Security Department release last week announcing the decision to end TPS status for Haitians said about 520,000 Haitians were eligible to register for TPS in 2024, Newsday has reported. Gillen said 9% of them live in New York State.
Gillen, flanked by Haitian American activists, said, "Since taking office, I've urged both the last administration and the Trump administration to protect this vital program" for Haitians.
Gillen said she had joined colleagues from around the country in writing President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to reconsider the expiration of TPS status for Haitians.
"But if they won’t do the right thing and keep TPS in place for Haitians, Congress must take action," Gillen said.
She said she introduced legislation Thursday — H.R. 1689 — that had bipartisan support, citing Rep. Mike Lawler (R-Pearl River) and House Haiti Caucus co-chair Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) as co-sponsors. She added she was continuing to seek more.
The bill does not have a sponsor in the Senate.
In a Feb. 19 letter to Trump, Lawler urged TPS protections for Haitians to remain in place.
"For years, the security environment in Haiti has been spiraling out of control, leaving the country unstable and dangerous for communities still in the country," Lawler wrote. "With such a critical situation ongoing in Haiti, it is paramount that you maintain the current TPS designation for Haiti. … Conditions in Haiti are as dangerous as ever and continue to intensify daily."
Gillen said the bill would extend TPS protections for Haitians another 18 months beyond Aug. 3, when the Trump administration has said it would expire. Haitian immigrants were designated for TPS status in 2010 after an earthquake killed 300,000 people. Immigrants from other countries have received TPS status because of turmoil in their homelands.
Assemb. Michaelle Solages (D-Elmont), the first person of Haitian descent elected to the New York State Legislature, who joined Gillen at the church, said an effort was underway to organize a legal challenge to ending TPS status for Haitians, as Venezuelans facing a loss of their TPS status have done.
Assemb. Michaelle Solages, center, joins Rep. Laura Gillen, left, and members of the Haitian community at Bethany French Baptist Church in Elmont on Friday to call for on the federal government to extend TPS protection for Haitiians in America. Credit: Debbie Egan-Chin
"They pay taxes. They have work permits," Solages said. "You may know a TPS holder but not even know they have that status because they're your neighbor. They're your friend."
Gillen said Haitians who lose their TPS status are "facing being sent back to certain life-threatening danger."
'Where are they going to go?'
Mimi Pierre Johnson, founder of the Elmont Cultural Center and a Haitian American who has lived in Elmont for more than 25 years, put it in even starker terms.
"And as you watch mothers fleeing with their children in their arms … running through the streets, where are they going to go? Because the area that they’re running to, there’s a different gang that’s about to take over that area. This is what’s happening in Haiti right now."
Pierre Johnson continued, "That is a traumatic experience that I never thought, as an American citizen, I would feel. And to hear this callous, ‘Send them back. End this protection for them.’ It is another layer of trauma that happens to us here as Haitian Americans. So I implore all who can: voice their opinion. Stand with Congresswoman Gillen. Stand with all of those who … want to fight for the Haitian people."
She added, "Because you are signing a death sentence of a whole nation when you don’t care.”
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