Three Days More: Court Extends Haitian TPS to 7-27

Haitians living in this country will not lose their Temporary Protected Status (TPS) on July 24 after all, with a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., granting some 350,000 Haitians a three-day reprieve until July 27.

The Haitians here under TPS make up a substantial percentage of healthcare workers, notably in long-term care, in states like Florida and Massachusetts.  

There is a mad scramble of sorts in these states to get Congress to act on a lengthier extension of TPS, but on Wednesday such an effort failed in the Senate when Senate Republicans objected to passing an extension to 2029 under a unanimous consent motion. Bipartisan legislation granting the 2029 extension has already been approved in the House.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 25 that the Trump Administration could revoke TPS for Haitians and a small group of Syrians. That decision would not become official under the vagaries of the Supreme Court notification protocols until July 27.

States Submit Letter

On July 22, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell and a coalition of attorneys general called on Congress to extend TPS for Haitians. In a letter dated July 22, the attorneys general from 19 states and the District of Columbia urged the Senate to act on the aforementioned bill to extend Haitian TPS through April 20, 2029.

“Ending TPS status for Haitian individuals creates a crisis in our healthcare system, causing increased wait times and reducing quality of care—particularly for elderly and disabled patients,” the letter said in part.

Timeline

-              On June 25, the Supreme Court by a 6-3 vote sided with the Trump Administration and its policy to end TPS for Haitian immigrants who originally came to this country after a massive earthquake in their home country in 2010. A much smaller number of Syrians also lost their TPS status in the same ruling.

-              Less than a week later on July 1, the feds issued updated guidance extending the placeholder expiration date on Form I-9 from July 1 to July 10 for TPS holders affected by the court ruling.

-              On July 9, in the blog post by Dana Ritchie, AHCA/NCAL’s associate vice president of constituency services and workforce, said immigration attorneys believe the TPS holders can stay until July 27 when the court’s mandate is scheduled to be issued.

-              On July 10, TPS was extended to July 24.

-              On July 22, TPS was extended to July 27.

Comments or questions on this article? Email Patrick Connole at pconnole@parkplacelive.com