First Haitian New York State Assembly Member, among other legislators outraged

The Unites States Administration’s recent decision to terminate the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for approximately 60,000 undocumented Haitian nationals residing there has not resonated well with Democratic congressional leaders and Caribbean legislators.

Immigrants from the Caribbean nation received protected status in 2010 after a devastating earthquake that left over 220,000 dead and 1.5 million people displaced.
The Temporary Protected Status (TPS) programme grants temporary visas to more than 435,000 people from 10 countries ravaged by natural disasters or war.
But the Administration, led by President Donald Trump says conditions in Haiti have now improved and its nationals can return safely.
A statement from the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Monday said the decision was made to terminate the TPS designation for Haitians, with a delayed effective date of 18 months, “to allow for an orderly transition before the designation terminates on July 22, 2019.”
Haitians therefore have 18 months to return.
“Significant steps have been taken to improve the stability and quality of life for Haitian citizens, and Haiti is able to safely receive traditional levels of returned citizens,” the statement added.
However, House Democrat Leader Nancy Pelosi told BBC that: “Deporting tens of thousands of men and women back into the nation will only deepen the suffering in Haiti…I completely disagree with the characterization that the situation in Haiti has improved.”
Moreover, New York State Assembly Member Rodneyse Bichotte, the daughter of Haitian immigrants and, who represents the predominantly Caribbean 42nd Assembly District in Brooklyn, New York told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that she was “equally saddened and angered” by the decision.
“For anyone who has been to Haiti in recent months, it is clear that the administration’s decision does not coincide with the dangerous reality on the ground,” said Bichotte, the first Haitian American from New York City to be elected to New York State Assembly. “The return of tens of thousands of people is only going to make conditions worse.” “Furthermore, it would be equally dangerous for the other hundreds of thousands of Central Americans who don’t know any life other than their life in the US,” she added. “In addition, for both Haitians and Central Americans, their economic contributions to both the US and their home countries will now be lost. The fight must continue to address these inhumane and unconstitutional decisions.”
New York City Councilman Jumaane Williams, the son of Grenadian immigrants, who represents the 45th Council District in Brooklyn, said he was “appalled to hear the administration’s decision, but I was not shocked. “This kind of callous, deliberate disregard for the well-being of hard-working immigrants, this disdain for our fellow human beings, is what we’ve come to expect from Donald Trump,” he told CMC.
“Trump’s own State Department has a travel advisory in place, which cites the dangers of travel to Haiti for Americans. Yet, he has no problem forcing Haitians, who came here in the wake of a devastating earthquake and outbreak of disease, to return to a country once again crippled by a natural disaster, Hurricane Matthew.
“It could not be clearer that his motives are xenophobic, that his priorities lie in creating fear and relegating certain people to a second class, and I will not stand for it. Fifty eight thousand Haitians living in the US under Temporary Protected Status will not stand for it, and their neighbours and communities will not stand for it,” Williams added.
According to a report from the CMC, US Congresswoman Yvette D Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants; Congressman John Conyers of Michigan, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member and CBC chairman; and Congressman Cedric Richmond of Louisiana said in a joint statement that they were outraged by the decision that now forces the Haitian immigrants to return home.
“The people of Haiti demonstrated extraordinary resolve in their efforts to rebuild. These efforts have been supported by Haitian nationals here in the United States who have worked hard and sent money to family members and friends,” the statement said.
“These remittances are critical to the recovery, and have provided for basic needs, including education, agricultural restoration, business development and home reconstruction…Although the administration granted Haitians another 18 months in the United States, the conditions on the ground clearly merit continuing TPS coverage, rather than terminating this essential, life-saving designation,” they added.
The lawmakers said that while campaigning in Miami, then-candidate Donald Trump called Haitian-Americans “hard-working, creative and industrious, and promised to be their ‘greatest champion.’” Today, Donald Trump has broken that promise.
According to the BBC, the move to terminate TPS for Haitians comes after a similar step was taken against 5,000 Nicaraguans. Protection for 86,000 Hondurans in the US has been extended. A decision on El Salvador’s status, which was given TPS after its 2001 earthquake, is due in January.