![\"Linda](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1777134969_475_MIA_05TPSPRAYERCANDLELIGHTVIGIL.JPG\" "\\"Linda")
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Linda Joseph prays during a TPS candlelight vigil at the Little Haiti Cultural Complex on Feb. 3, 2026, in Miami. <\/p>\n
Carl Juste<\/p>\n
cjuste@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n
A group of immigrant advocacy groups is planning a rally on Sunday in North Miami to press Congress to extend Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for hundreds of thousands of Haitian nationals in the U.S.<\/p>\n
The planned rally comes a little more than week after the House approved a bill to extend TPS for Haitians. Republican and Democratic lawmakers from South Florida \u2014 home to the largest group of Haitians in the U.S. \u2014 proved crucial in passing the bill 224-204.<\/p>\n
The bill, H.R. 1689, was supported by U.S. Reps. Mar\u00eda Elvira Salazar, Carlos Gimenez and Mario Diaz-Balart \u2014 all Republicans from Miami \u2014 along with South Florida Democrats, including U.S. Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Frederica Wilson, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Lois Frankel and Jared Moskowitz.<\/p>\n
Turning the legislation into law will require approval by the U.S. Senate and President Donald Trump. The White House has already said Trump would veto it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Administration understands members have to vote their districts at times,\u201d the White House said in a statement to NPR. \u201cThis terrible bill is going nowhere and there has been a veto threat issued. The administration is focused on enforcing federal immigration law and putting American citizens first.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sunday\u2019s rally in North Miami is being organized by Family Action Network Movement, or FANM, one of the region\u2019s leading Haitian immigrant advocacy groups. Others include the Haitian Bridge Alliance and the American Civil Liberties Union.<\/p>\n
The groups contend that the Trump administration\u2019s efforts to terminate TPS is \u201cdiscriminatory, unlawful and dismissive of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Haiti.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThese rallies are about protecting families, defending dignity and standing up for justice,\u201d FANM said in a statement. \u201cMore than 330,000 Haitians \u2014 and countless U.S.-based family members \u2014 depend on TPS to live and work safely in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Haiti is one of more than a dozen countries that Trump has targeted to strip TPS for its citizens.<\/p>\n
TPS is intended to provide a safe haven for foreign nationals whose home countries are experiencing armed conflict, fallout from natural disasters and other temporarily unsafe conditions.<\/p>\n
Haitians were granted protections in 2010 under then-President Barack Obama following the devastating earthquake that rocked the already beleaguered nation and left an estimated 220,000 dead and 1.5 million people displaced.<\/p>\n
The Biden and first Trump administrations both extended TPS for Haitian refugees.<\/p>\n
If you go<\/p>\n
What: Haiti TPS Rally-South Florida<\/p>\n
When: Sunday, April 26, 2026, beginning at 2:30 p.m.<\/p>\n
Where: MOCA Plaza, 770 NE 125th Street, North Miami<\/p>\n