http://themilitant.com/2017/8146/814604.html
The Militant (logo)
Vol. 81/No. 46 December 11, 2017
(front page)
US gov’t moves to expel immigrants from Haiti, Central America
BY CHUCK GUERRA
MIAMI — In 18 months some 59,000 Haitians will lose their Temporary
Protected Status, which allows them to live and work in the United
States, Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Elaine Duke
announced Nov. 20. This comes two weeks after a similar decision to end
the program for some 5,300 Nicaraguans.
The status of 86,000 Hondurans remains undecided, but they could also
face the threat of deportation if their protected status is withdrawn.
Over 260,000 refugees from El Salvador are facing a deadline of March. A
small number of immigrants from Sudan and South Sudan are also in limbo.
The Obama administration extended protected status to immigrants from
Haiti after an earthquake there in 2010 killed more than 300,000 people
and left 1.5 million homeless. It was renewed three times since, as the
Haitian people faced a cholera outbreak that killed 9,000 and sickened
more than 800,000, and was hit by Hurricane Matthew in 2016, killing
over 1,000 people and devastating much of the country.
Duke, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, claimed the situation
in Haiti has improved and Haitians living in the U.S. can return to
their homeland. Many in the Haitian community in South Florida dispute
that. Thousands have established families and lives here and would
return to a country they know little about.
“There’s no way that Haiti is ready to receive 60,000 of us,” Joseph
Audain told the Militant. He manages a small assisted-living facility
and has lived and worked here for 30 years. “Haiti had two major
hurricanes after the earthquake in 2010, there’s no recovery from anything.
“There’s not one Haitian who won’t be affected by this decision if it
goes through,” he said, because “we don’t just take, we give.” Many
Haitians in Florida send substantial amounts of remittances to family
members in Haiti.
Without this — one of the single largest sources of income in the
impoverished country — greater hardships will come down on working
people there.
Protests against ending Temporary Protected Status have been building
over several months. A demonstration in front of the Citizenship and
Immigration Services office here May 13 drew hundreds to protest the
threat of deportations if TPS is not renewed.
In response to Duke’s Nov. 20 announcement, hundreds gathered the
following day to protest near Mar-a-Lago, President Trump’s private
beach club, in Palm Beach. Trump was scheduled to spend Thanksgiving
there. The protest included members of the UNITE HERE union from around
the state, which organizes hospitality workers, many of whom are
Haitian; Service Employees International Union; and the Guatemalan-Maya
Center.
“What do we want? Residence! When do we want it? Now!” marchers chanted.
Many U.S. Congress members from south Florida — both Democrats and
Republicans — have spoken against the decision to revoke the protected
status. Miami Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo and others have submitted a
bill called Extending Status Protection for Eligible Refugees with
Established Residence, or Esperer, French for “hope,” that would allow
people admitted under TPS to apply for permanent residence.
At the time of a May decision extending TPS for Haitians for only six
months, Cynthia Jaquith, then Socialist Workers Party candidate for
mayor of Miami, issued a statement protesting the attack on TPS.
“We stand in solidarity with Haitians in the United States who face the
threat of deportation when the TPS extension expires,” Jaquith said.
“The conditions in Haiti today are important, but not our starting
point. We in the Socialist Workers Party call for amnesty for all
immigrants in the U.S. — that everyone here, regardless of the
circumstances under which they came, should be able to live and work
without fear of deportation, criminal prosecution or denial of social
services.
“The bosses use immigration status as a wedge to heighten divisions
among working people here,” she added. “That’s why all unions should
denounce the threat to end TPS. This is what is needed to unite the
working class in a common fight against the bosses.”
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