MIAMI – Miami-Dade County Commissioner Marleine Bastien stood with a group of activists Friday to advocate for Haitians in South Florida whose immigration status is set to change.
The Trump administration announced that more than 520,700 Haitians living in the U.S. will be vulnerable to deportation in a little over five months.
“I am deeply disheartened and outraged,” Bastien said during a news conference organized by the Family Action Network Movement, a Miami-based nonprofit organization that Bastien founded.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced Thursday that the Temporary Protected Status for Haitians will end on Aug. 3.
“These are human beings, these are individuals who have families, and these are people who have contributed to this country, and to this state, and to our communities,” “Florida State Sen. Shervin Jones said while standing with Bastien.
Noem reversed former President Joe Biden’s administration’s decision to continue Haitians’ TPS from Aug. 4 to Feb. 3, 2026. This will also impact TPS-related work permits.
“This decision puts thousands of our families at risk,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava wrote on X.
Last year, the United Nations called on all governments “not to forcibly return anyone to Haiti, including those who have had their asylum claims rejected.”
The U.S. has provided TPS for Haitians since a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck on Jan. 12, 2010, some 15 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince.
Political dysfunction plagues Haiti. The country hasn’t had a presidential election since Jovenel Moïse served from 2017 until his assassination in 2021.
Violence has continued to displace Haitians. The UN mission with police from Kenya, Jamaica, Guatemala, and El Salvador has struggled to weaken the gangs accused of massacres.
Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé and a nine-member transitional council that has a mandate until Feb. 7, 2026, also haven’t been able to find solutions.
“We cannot be in the business of deporting over 500,000 Haitian people, many of whom I represent, back to a country that is still riddled with gang violence and instability. It’s wrong,” Rep. Frederica Wilson said in a statement.
About 600,000 Venezuelans face a similar fate after the Trump administration also announced on Feb. 5 that TPS for Venezuelans will end on April 7.
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