Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23)
“Haiti is overrun by criminal gangs, who kidnap women and girls, extort residents for protection money, and kill with impunity. We must preserve their TPS and protect their lives and safety,” said Wasserman Schultz. “As a descendent of immigrants who fled repression and antisemitism, I’ll always fight for law-abiding immigrant families who fled desperate circumstances and who work hard, pay taxes, pass criminal background checks, and contribute to our economy and communities.”
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25) and Maxwell Frost (FL-10) joined Rep. Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Co-Chair of the House Haiti Caucus, and Rep. Laura Gillen (NY-04) for a press conference alongside colleagues and advocates calling for the extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians. Last month, Rep. Pressley’s discharge petition successfully met the 218-signature threshold to move forward with bipartisan support.
Also joining were House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Yvette Clarke, Congressman Mike Lawler, Maria Praeli, Director of Government Relations and Advocacy at FWD.us, Joshua Bernstein, Director of Immigration, Service Employees International Union, Guerline Jozef, Executive Director, Haitian Bridge Alliance, and Patrice Lawrence, Co-Director, UndocuBlack Network.
“Haiti is overrun by criminal gangs, who kidnap women and girls, extort residents for protection money, and kill with impunity. We must preserve their TPS and protect their lives and safety,” said Wasserman Schultz. “As a descendent of immigrants who fled repression and antisemitism, I’ll always fight for law-abiding immigrant families who fled desperate circumstances and who work hard, pay taxes, pass criminal background checks, and contribute to our economy and communities.”
“Extending TPS for Haiti is urgent and necessary,” said Frost. “I’ve been fighting to protect Haitian families in Central Florida because Haiti is facing a devastating humanitarian crisis marked by violence, instability, and a lack of basic safety. The House must act to protect these families, and the Senate must follow with the same urgency.”
“For Haitian nationals, these deportation threats are not policy. They are a death sentence,” said Rep. Frederica Wilson (FL-24). “My constituents have done everything right, and I refuse to stand by while they are sent back into violence, instability, and fear. Haiti is not safe, and we all know it. This is a humanitarian crisis, and I am demanding immediate action to extend TPS, protect these families, and stand with Haiti. I will keep fighting with everything I have until these families are protected and this injustice is brought to an end.”
“Extending TPS for Haiti is not only the moral and humanitarian thing to do—it’s also good policy. It’s good for families, it’s good for our economy, and it’s good for America,” said Pressley. “Today the People’s House has an opportunity to pass our legislation to extend Haiti TPS and save lives. And we must do just that.”
“Before I came to Congress, I made a promise to our Haitian community in Nassau County on Long Island that I would use my voice and work with anyone to help protect this community and their existing legal status here in the United States,” said Gillen. “That’s why the very first bill I introduced was a bipartisan bill to extend TPS for Haitians. Without this protection, they will be forced to return to the horrors in Haiti. It has kept hard-working, law-abiding, and taxpaying members of our community from certain death. I am proud that, with the partnership of my Democratic and Republican colleagues, including Representatives Ayanna Pressley and Mike Lawler, we were able to advance a discharge petition on this issue. This week, I intend to pass the very first bill that I introduced in Congress and deliver on a promise that I made before taking office to protect TPS for Haiti.”
“Since the start of this administration, we’ve witnessed one attack after another on law-abiding immigrants,” said Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (MA-5). “Families are being torn apart, and fear is becoming a twisted new norm across our communities. Extending TPS for our Haitian brothers and sisters would mark a crucial step toward reining in Trump’s terror. I’m deeply grateful to Reps. Pressley and Gillen for leading the fight to save lives, safeguard basic rights, and uphold the dignity our constituents deserve.”
“I am proud to fight alongside my colleagues who have refused to stand by as the 350,000 Haitian TPS holders, whom we have come to call our neighbors, friends, and loved ones, are forced back to the same humanitarian turmoil, gang violence, exploitation, chaos, and instability that they narrowly escaped with their lives. These families embody what it means to be good, decent Americans, and they deserve more than to be treated as numbers in Donald Trump’s deportation machine,” said Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke. “Temporary Protected Status is a promise. For the sake of our Haitian neighbors’ safety and futures, we must not break it.”
“Haitian TPS holders are our family members, neighbors, and friends. They are parents raising kids here. They are caregivers, coworkers, and essential workers who contribute to the places we all call home,”
said Maria Praeli, Director of Government Relations and Advocacy at FWD.us. “This bill isn’t just a statement about the conditions in Haiti, and the very real justification for continuing TPS. It is also about recognizing what TPS holders already contribute and making a decision that is in the best interest of our communities and our economy.”
“Many of SEIU’s Haitian members with TPS provide in-home long-term care for elderly or disabled U.S. citizens who face the prospect of losing trusted aides they have relied on for intimate assistance for months or years,” said Joshua Bernstein of SEIU at the press conference. “Others play critical roles in airports, hospitals, health clinics or elsewhere. They will be difficult and costly to replace, and America will be poorer for it, their families bereft, their co-workers and employers left to fend for themselves. We hope and expect that a majority [of congressmembers] will vote tomorrow to keep them in their jobs and free from deportation.”
“350,000 people at risk right now, and those are children who are afraid to go to school because they are afraid when they come back home, their mothers, their fathers will not be here,” said Guerline Jozef with Haitian Bridge Alliance at the press conference. “Where will you be? On the right side of history? Or continuing to cause trauma to people who aren’t asking for anything other than safety and protection? We stand in solidarity with the TPS holders, and we are pushing with Congresswoman Pressley and the entire 218 members who came and signed. We are demanding every member of Congress, regardless of which side of the aisle you find yourself, to stand on behalf of the right, human thing to do right now and provide TPS for those Haitians.”
“This is deeply personal for those of us that know what it’s like to be vulnerable, for those of us who know what it’s like to be living our lives in short increments—which TPS holders do of two years at a time—folks who are parents, folks who are students, folks who are advocates, folks who are caregivers,” said Patrice Lawrence with UndocuBlack Network at the press conference. “We deserve to give them more time, and that is what we can do today and tomorrow by making sure that we say ‘Yes’ to the votes. This is not about politics—this is about Haitian people, and it is the right thing to do no matter which color you represent.”
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