Prevailing emotion is really fear': Haitians in NY brace for loss of deportation relief

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Haitian New Yorkers are reeling from the end of a federal humanitarian immigration protection program that exposes more than 330,000 nationals from that country to possible deportation from the United States.

“The prevailing emotion is really fear,” said Elsie Saint Louis, the executive director of Haitian Americans United for Progress, a New York City-based community services organization. “So parents are afraid to send their kids to school. People aren’t going into work. People have been fired. People are not going to the doctors – our pregnant women are not going to the doctors. So there's a lot of fear, fear of what the future holds.”

Relief under the temporary protected status program came to a screeching halt on Monday for some 40,000 Haitian nationals in New York state, according to data compiled by Phillip Connor, research fellow at Princeton University. The program’s demise has been years in the making, but was hastened by a Supreme Court ruling in June allowing a phased shutdown to proceed.

The Trump administration, contending the program has been abused and the protections are no longer warranted, has unwound TPS for Syrian and Haitian nationals and has said it would do so for nationals from another dozen or so countries. The grace has long been extended to foreign nationals from countries deemed too dangerous to be returned to — because of war, disease, environmental disaster or some other “ extraordinary and temporary ” condition.

New York state is home to one of the largest populations of TPS holders in the country – about 98,250 as of last March, according to the USCIS data. The departures are expected to have effects that extend beyond the TPS recipients themselves. Some healthcare providers, noting their reliance on immigrants who work as caregivers, have scrambled to fill positions already vacated by those who have been stripped of their work authorizations .

Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs can connect Haitian New Yorkers with free legal assistance if needed.

“Haitian New Yorkers, Syrian New Yorkers -- they are a part of the fabric of this city,” Mamdani said at an unrelated press conference on Monday. “While a judge stayed that decision until today [Monday], it still has left so many living in a state of permanent insecurity and anxiety… Our administration is not going to allow these communities to be terrorized on their own.”

Efforts by Trump to end the TPS protections began in his first term, more than nine years ago. The Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling in June allowing the administration to unwind the program applies specifically to protections for Haitians and a much smaller number of Syrians – about 3,900 across the country. Nationals from a host of other countries are expected to follow.

Saint Louis said her organization has been preparing Haitian residents with legal screenings to see if they’re eligible for other forms of immigration relief. She’s also recommending parents name a standby guardian for their children and have another trusted person to whom they can transfer their money in case they are arrested by immigration agents.

She said many TPS holders have been here for decades, making the process of preparing them for potential deportation especially complex.

“They have roots here, have created businesses here, are professionals here, have children who have never been to Haiti, and they themselves who have no longer have ties to Haiti,” Saint Louis said.

Haitian New Yorkers have been going out less in recent weeks, Saint Louis said, so her organization has tried to reach them remotely, through radio announcements and group chats, and meeting people directly at barbershops, salons, train stations, and churches.

Arya is a reporter covering race and justice. Got a tip? Email: [email protected] or reach Arya on Signal at 512-650-8767.

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