Audio By Carbonatix
A contingent of immigrant business groups, clergy, and political leaders is calling on the federal government to continue refugee protections for Haitian immigrants following the Trump administration’s announcement that it plans to end their Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in February.
The American Business Immigration Coalition Action (ABIC Action), Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski, United States Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, BDO USA managing principal Tony Argiz, and Haitian business and other faith leaders planned a press conference Tuesday afternoon in Miami Shores to call for the continuation of Haitian TPS. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem’s move to end Haitian TPS puts nearly 350,000 immigrants in the firing line of President Donald Trump’s rollbacks on immigrant protections; more than 113,000 of those immigrants are in the Florida workforce, according ABIC Action. Noem made the announcement in November, the same month up to 600,000 Venezuelan refugees lost their protected immigration status.
Haitian refugees obtained TPS under then-President Barack Obama following a catastrophic earthquake in January 2010. Subsequent extensions came under former President Joe Biden, with DHS at the time citing social unrest, security concerns, crippling poverty, and an increase in human-rights abuses.
In its November 2025 announcement to end Haitian TPS, DHS argued the country is now safe for return, writing, “After reviewing country conditions and consulting with appropriate U.S. Government agencies, the Secretary determined that Haiti no longer meets the conditions for the designation for Temporary Protected Status.”
But a travel guide posted by the U.S. Department of State, which manages the nation’s foreign policies, notes Haiti is unsafe for travel, noting kidnapping, crime, terrorist activity, civil unrest, and limited healthcare as reasons people shouldn’t travel there.
“Haiti has been under a State of Emergency since March 2024. Crimes involving firearms are common in Haiti. They include robbery, carjackings, sexual assault, and kidnappings for ransom. Do not travel to Haiti for any reason,” according to a U.S. Department of State July 2025 travel advisory that appears to still be in effect on the department website.
Immigrant activists argue that Haitian TPS holders contribute significantly to U.S. culture through taxes and their everyday work.
“Haitian TPS holders contribute $1.3 billion in Florida state and local taxes, while 63,000 TPS homeowners add $19 billion to housing values,” ABIC Action officials said in a news release. “Many of them are also vital to the healthcare and elder care workforce.
“Nationwide, TPS holders represent 15 percent of all noncitizen healthcare workers, with over 20 percent of Haitians employed in healthcare roles. The loss of these trusted caregivers threatens to deepen the nation’s senior care crisis, disrupt families, and further strain an industry already facing severe workforce shortages. In Florida, immigrants comprise one in four long-term care workers and over 30 percent of nursing home support roles.”
The goal of the press conference, according to its organizers, is to explain the effect of TPS expiry on the South Florida Haitian community, “as well as call on President Trump to swiftly take the morally right, economically crucial, and politically smart path and preserve work permits for Haitians and other long-term immigrants in Miami and nationwide ahead of the February 3 deadline,” a news release states.
According to ABIC Action, the U.S. “is facing a demographic crisis: The population of older adults is rapidly increasing while the pool of available caregivers is shrinking.”
