Broward elected official celebrates Haitian TPS extension. ‘You belong’

While over 100,000 Haitians in Florida can breathe a sigh of relief over the extension of their Temporary Protected Status, Coral Springs Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer Bowen called a judge’s ruling “humanity choosing fairness and compassion.”

“Temporary protected status exists because this country has long recognized that when people are fleeing violence, instability and disaster, we do not turn our backs,” Metayer Bowen said at the Feb. 4 Coral Springs Commission meeting.

Metayer Bowen, the first Haitian-American elected to the city commission, also serves as the vice chair of Haitian American Outreach for the Florida Democratic Party. She said the judge’s decision to prevent the program from ending Feb. 3 “matters deeply here in Coral Springs.”

“Many Haitians and people of Haitian descent live in our city, they are parents in our school, business owners in our neighborhood, health care workers caring for seniors and essential workers to keep our community running,” she said at the meeting, which she joined virtually. “This ruling directly impacts families right here at home.”

Roughly 158,000 Haitians are living in Florida under TPS, which grants work authorization and protection from detention or deportation on the basis of immigration status for individuals of countries facing armed conflict, natural disaster or other similar circumstances.

“To strip stability away from people who have worked, pay taxes, raise families and followed quote-unquote ‘the rules,’ only to throw them into chaos for political gain, is morally wrong,” she said.

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem determined Haiti no longer met the conditions for Temporary Protected Status, and the program was due to expire Feb. 3.

A U.S. District Court judge issued an order delaying the expiration Feb. 2, but it doesn’t mean the case is closed.

“The judge did so even though the Department of Homeland Security recently prevailed twice in the U.S. Supreme Court in a similar case,” according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. “The Department of Homeland Security vehemently disagrees with this order and is working with (the) Department of Justice to determine next steps.”

Protests sprung up across South Florida as the protections were due to end.

Farah Larrieux, the chair and founder of the Miramar Haitian-American Residents and Business Owners coalition, told the Miramar News at a demonstration at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport that as a TPS holder, she was concerned about what would happen if the program ended.

“You’re telling me to pack 20 years of my life in a bag, in a box, and go back to Haiti, a country where things are very bad,” she said.

The issue continues to be litigated in court as advocates such as Larrieux and Metayer Bowen are urging Congress to provide more permanent protections.

“We need real pathways to citizenship for people who work hard, pay taxes and contribute every single day,” Metayer Bowen said.

The vice mayor said in her remarks that many Haitian TPS holders have been in the U.S. for years and are not “strangers.”

“This week’s ruling sends a clear message to Haitian families (in South Florida and) across this country,” Metayer Bowen said. “You belong. Your work matters. Your lives matter.”