The California-based Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) is urging the United State Senate to vote in support of a petition extending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for more than 350,000 Haitian nationals for three years and restoring work authorisation for eligible recipients.
HBA Executive Director Guerline Jozef said that the US House of Representatives has already passed the measure with bipartisan support, following months of advocacy by several stakeholders including the HBA calling on lawmakers to act.
‘With extreme gang violence and a worsening humanitarian crisis continuing in Haiti, returning Haitian TPS holders remains unsafe and, for many families, unimaginable,’ she told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).
‘On Labour Day, we recognize the millions of workers whose labour keeps our communities and economy moving. Haitian TPS holders are part of that workforce. They are caregivers, healthcare workers, construction workers, entrepreneurs, taxpayers, and consumers who contribute every day to the American economy,’ she said.
The US observed Labour Day celebrations this week and Jozef said that taking away the ability of Haitians to work legally does not serve the interests of the United States.
‘It harms American employers, disrupts families, reduces economic activity, and removes experienced workers from industries that depend on them.
‘HBA urges the Senate to act swiftly. Extending TPS is both a humanitarian necessity and an economic imperative: allowing Haitian TPS holders and other nationals to remain legally employed means they can continue paying taxes, supporting American businesses, caring for families, and contributing to their communities.’
Jozef said that, at a time when the United States needs a stable and productive workforce, ‘Congress should not force hundreds of thousands of workers out of the legal economy while Haiti remains unsafe for return.’
Jozef has strongly condemned as ‘unconscionable’ the Donald Trump administration’s deportation of more than 160 Haitian nationals to Haiti, marking the first large-scale deportation flight following the termination of TPS for more than 350,000 Haitians residing in the United States.
‘This is not simply a question of immigration enforcement. We are talking about human beings being sent into a country where more than a million people have already been driven from their homes and where there are security and humanitarian crises..
‘The United States cannot claim that Haiti is safe while simultaneously acknowledging the extraordinary security risks that prevent even commercial flights from operating in Port-au-Prince and telling the whole world to not travel there,’ said Jozef, calling for a moratorium on deportations to Haiti.
‘These deportations are unconscionable and will contribute to the continued destabilization of Haiti,’ she said, urging the Senate to ‘immediately extend TPS for a minimum of three years by passing the petition ‘until we are able to pass comprehensive immigration reform to permanently protect all TPS and DACA (Deferred Action for Early Childhood Arrivals) recipients across this nation’
Jozef pointed to United Nations date that states that nearly 1.5 million Haitians are internally displaced, while 6.4 million people-more than half the French-speaking Caribbean country’s population-are expected to require humanitarian assistance in 2026.
‘The security situation continues to deteriorate. Between March and July alone, the United Nations documented at least 613 people killed, 375 injured, and more than 18,000 displaced in violence concentrated in Cité Soleil and the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac.
‘Against this backdrop, HBA warns that returning people to Haiti without adequate safeguards, resources, housing, security, and access to essential services as hospitals and other sustainable infrastructure places lives at serious risk,’ added Jozef, stating that more than 110,000 Haitian nationals had already been forcibly returned to Haiti since January 2026, according to the United Nations.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has described as ‘callous, reckless and inhumane’ US President Donald J. Trump’s termination of TPS for Haitians and other immigrants.
In a letter to US Department of Homeland Security Secretary (DHS) Markwayne Mullin, Hochul reiterated her strong opposition to the termination of protections for hundreds of thousands of immigrants under TPS.
‘I am writing to follow up on a conversation I had with President Trump, and to reiterate my strong opposition to the termination of protections for hundreds of thousands of immigrants under Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
‘The callousness of abruptly ending TPS for legally-present individuals including the recent termination for Haitians and the forthcoming termination for Salvadorians will force New York State and local governments to sever the employment of hundreds of essential employees as soon as next week, putting their livelihoods – and potentially their safety – at risk,’ Hochul wrote.
She said that this impact is not limited to government workers and will be felt by private sector industries across our state.
‘The sudden removal of these members of our workforce and our communities will impact critical services that New Yorkers rely on – with a particularly heavy impact on the healthcare industry, putting our seniors and other vulnerable New Yorkers at risk,’ the said, adding that for generations, New York has welcomed those fleeing disasters or persecution and seeking a better future.
Through her Office for New Americans, Hochul said her administration has supported thousands of New Yorkers with TPS application assistance and legal representation.
She said New York remains committed to supporting TPS recipients and vowed to continue to do everything in its power to prevent harm to the immigrant community.
As the Haitian community reels from the termination of TPS, New York City Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani said that New York City will ‘do everything in its power’ to support Haiti TPS recipients.
‘The city will do everything in its power to support TPS recipients in this time of incredible instability, including through free legal consultations to assess eligibility for other forms of work authorization, as well as assistance navigating health insurance and other resources for employees and their families,’ said the mayor in a statement.