FL U.S. Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick calls on Biden administration to expand protections for Haitians

Mitch Perry
·4 min read
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Central governance has broken down in Haiti. Credit: Getty Images

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With violence by organized criminal groups continuing to escalate the humanitarian crisis in Haiti, South Florida Democratic U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick joined two other members of Congress and representatives of several Haitian-led organizations on a telephone conference call on Thursday urging more federal action to address the situation.

The groups were united in calling on the Biden administration to do several specific actions to protect Haitians who have fled the violence- torn country and currently are in the U.S. or trying to get here. Those actions include:

  • Extend and redesignate Temporary Protection Status (TPS) for Haiti. TPS is a program that allows migrants from designated countries with unsafe conditions to legally reside in the U.S for a temporary amount of time. The Department of Homeland Security announced last December that TPS would be extended for Haitians through August 3, 2024.

  • Stop all plans to detain Haitians interdicted at sea at Guantanamo Bay or offshore detention centers.

  • Expedite the CHNV Humanitarian Parole Program. That’s the program rolled out by the Biden administration’s parole program last year that allows up to 30,000 nationals of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela who have a sponsor in the U.S. and who pass a background check to come to the U.S. for a period of up two years to live and work in the U.S.

South Florida Democratic U.S. Rep. Sheila Chefilus-McCormick (photo credit: Congress.gov)

The conference call was organized by America’s Voice, an immigrant rights organization.

Among the top concerns for Cherfilus-McCormick, a Haitian-American, is the trafficking of firearms from the U.S. that gets in the hands of organized gang members in Haiti. A  U.N. report released last year said that “[t]he principal source of firearms and munitions is in the U.S. and particular Florida.”

That led her and other congressional Democrats last month to file the Caribbean Arms Trafficking Causes Harm or CATCH Act, which aims to curb illicit arms trafficking from the U.S. to the Caribbean.

“We have to do everything we can as Americans in the U.S, to not continue to support the gangs by giving them the ammunition that they need to terrorize the Haitian people,” she said Thursday.

Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Ayanna Presley is a co-chair of the Haiti Caucus in Congress along with Bush and Cherfilus-McCormick. She said now more than ever this is the time for federal action to “stabilize Haiti and save lives.”

“That means immediately halting all deportations,” she said. “Anything less is a death sentence. We have to halt all deportations to the island. We have to redesignate TPS for Haiti…it means cracking down on arms trafficking to Haiti, which has fueled the unspeakable violence that we’re witnessing today.”

NBC News reported two weeks ago that “two U.S. officials” said that the Biden administration will not change the policy of returning Haitians interdicted at sea because they do not want to trigger mass migration. The officials also said that the current crisis has not yet spurred the U.S. to consider granting Temporary Protected Status to an additional group of undocumented Haitians.

“Haiti is facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises right now,” said Missouri Democratic U.S. Rep. Cori Bush. “The collapse of the government, the violence and impunity of armed gangs, the widespread hunger and disease. The targeting of civilians. The hundreds of thousands displaced. It is appalling and unconscionable. The world must rally on behalf of the Haitian people.

“The United States government has a moral responsibility to adopt a human approach to helping Haitian immigrants fleeing these horrific conditions. What does that look like? It looks like extending and redesignating Haiti for TPS. Indefinitely halting deportations and forced removal. Releasing detained Haitians on humanitarian parole. Closing active removal cases. Expanding the monthly caps on CNHV parole recipients and expediting their applications.”

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