Areas USA, reached after the rally for comment, declined to discuss its airport employees\u2019 status, citing privacy considerations.<\/p>\n
But in a statement, a spokesperson said the company is focused on following federal law.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike all U.S. employers, Areas is required to comply with federal law and employment-eligibility requirements,\u201d the spokesperson said. \u201cWhen federal law no longer permits an individual to work, we cannot legally continue their employment, and any resulting action is based solely on the absence of legally required work authorization.<\/p>\n
\u201cAreas will continue to employ every individual who remains legally authorized to work, and we are consistently monitoring guidance from USCIS and the Department of Homeland Security, including any judicial or administrative developments that may affect the July 27 date,\u201d she said, citing the latest date in which the government can act to end TPS for Haitians. \u201cWe are communicating directly with potentially affected employees and are committed to complying with the law while treating every team member with dignity, consistency, and respect.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is not known what the company and others that employ Haitian workers in South Florida plan to do this time. Industry trade groups including the Florida Health Care Association and Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association<\/a> have asked the government to allot more time so members can make work force adjustments and\/or help the affected Haitian workers find alternate ways to stay in the U.S.<\/p>\n The government itself appears to have kept its own counsel in the face of those requests. Its actions, however, make it clear that it remains steadfast in its determination to end TPS programs for not only Haitians, but also for those allowing other foreign national groups to remain in the U.S.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, a Republican-dominated U.S. Senate blocked an effort by Democrats to adopt a House action designed to extend TPS for Haitians another three years.\n<\/p>\n Even before the vote and with the Supreme Court decision in hand, the government reportedly started twice-a-week deportation flights to Haiti.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security announced more than 100 people with criminal backgrounds had been returned to the Caribbean nation on July 16 aboard a deportation flight.<\/p>\n \u201cLast week, ICE deported pedophiles, carjackers, drug traffickers and perpetrators of fraud to Haiti,\u201d Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a news release.\u202f\u201cCriminal illegal aliens have NO place in American communities. Our message to illegal aliens is clear: LEAVE NOW. If you don\u2019t, we will find you and deport you.\u201d<\/p>\n In late June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Department of Homeland Security could finally terminate Temporary Protected Status for Haiti, an exercise that started last summer only to become immersed in court challenges from rights groups representing immigrants. The court held that the TPS statute bars judicial review of non-constitutional challenges to the Secretary of Homeland Security\u2019s decisions to extend or terminate Temporary Protected Status.<\/p>\n The court also concluded that the people challenging the end of the Haiti TPS designation were not likely to succeed on their equal protection claims, which are still being pursued by lawyers. They have until July 31 to possibly amend their complaint to include discrimination claims on the Haitians\u2019 behalf. But those claims, the Supreme Court itself declared, are unlikely to succeed.<\/p>\n But this past Wednesday, the Trump administration was denied a request by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of\u00a0 Columbia Circuit\u00a0 to end the program Friday. The court promptly set this Monday, July 27, as the date when the Administration can cancel TPS for Haitians.<\/p>\n Bureaucratic \u201cfire drill\u201d<\/p>\n Companies and their legal advisors have found it next to impossible to keep pace.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been running this fire drill for the past couple of weeks,\u201d said Stefanie Camfield, associate general counsel for Hollywood-based Engage PEO, an employment law advisory firm for businesses. \u201cJuly 1 then the 10th, the 24th and now the 27th. All of this confusion for employers is really frustrating. I literally weeks ago had to tell my clients, \u2018you have to wait and see.\u2019 They keep pushing the date back.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf somebody has a work authorization, you can\u2019t terminate them,\u201d she added. \u201cYou can end up with a national origin discrimination claim.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEmployers are expected to keep an eye on this. I don\u2019t know how a small business owner can keep up. I\u2019m having trouble keeping up and I\u2019ve been practicing law for 18 years,\u201d Camfield said. \u201cI feel for the people whose employees are directly impacted. Employers\u00a0 are stuck in this impossible situation. They want to help [workers] however they can but they can\u2019t\u00a0 continue to employ them once the work authorizations are terminated.\u201d<\/p>\n For decades, Haitians have migrated to South Florida from their Caribbean nation to escape authoritarian rule, organized gang<\/a> violence, assassinations,<\/a> kidnappings, military interventions, disease, and natural disasters.<\/p>\n The TPS now in force was authorized in 2010 after an earthquake flattened cities<\/a> and killed thousands. Conservative critics in the U.S. argue that Haiti TPS has gone beyond temporary and become permanent through repeated renewals. Advocates counter the danger and suffering endured by Haitians in their homeland<\/a> that has been continuous and far from temporary.<\/p>\n Hopes that an estimated 350,000 Haitian immigrants would be allowed to remain in the United States past the summer were deflated by the Supreme Court ruling and in Congress, where the U.S. Senate on Wednesday refused to consider a House action that would have extended their stays for three years.\n<\/p>\n In the interim, South Florida industries served by thousands of Haitian immigrants \u2014 such as health care, hospitality, construction and transportation \u2014 are finding it difficult to manage.<\/p>\n \u201cI have had many calls from various tourism and hospitality industry venues, businesses, and owners,\u201d said Peter Ricci, director of the hospitality and tourism management program at the Florida Atlantic University College of Business. \u201cA large number of them have Temporary Protected Status employees from various countries over many years of doing business in South Florida.\u00a0 All are concerned about the loss of these individuals and their potential need to replace the workers. Further, there are simply the \u2018human concerns\u2019 with many of them being long-term employees, often over a period of many years.<\/p>\n \u201cThe main concern at this point is the ongoing change of time for their workers,\u201d Ricci said in an email to the South Florida Sun Sentinel. \u201cIf they had a firm date, many are willing to assist their current TPS-protected workers with return-to-country flight assistance or other manners. However, with the extensions [being] somewhat of a \u2018moving target\u2019 in terms of dates, they are equally frustrated.\u201d<\/p>\n He noted that for an industry that staffs hotels and restaurants based on anticipated visitor volume, not knowing whether workers will be available to fill a one- or two-week work schedule \u201cis confounding to operators.\u201d<\/p>\n Candice Mondesir, executive director of the Haitian-American Chamber of Commerce of Florida, said in an interview that the impact of ousting thousands of Haitians will be felt far beyond the labor market.<\/p>\n Haitian immigrants, she said, contribute $2.6 billion to the statewide economy.<\/p>\n \u201cA good portion,\u201d she said, support the health care system in South Florida as nurses and care workers. \u201cA lot of hospitals hire Haitian TPS workers \u2014 they run very heavily into nursing.\u201d<\/p>\n Throughout Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, many own businesses and hold home mortgages and car loans.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re entrepreneurs,\u201d Mondesir said. \u201cThey pay taxes like everybody else. What happens when you say, \u2018this person is not legally here\u2019? What happens to the Social Security number and the money they paid into Social Security? A lot of times there are so many different things that I don\u2019t think people are looking at the full blown picture. It\u2019s a whole ecosystem that is going to be disrupted.\u201d<\/p>\n In the streets of cities such as North Miami and North Miami Beach, \u201cyou see them affected by it. A lot of the businesses are struggling because people are afraid to come out.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cParents are scared to send kids to school in August,\u201d Mondesir added. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot coming down the pipeline and it\u2019s terrifying.\u201d<\/p>\n Contingency planning abounds, she said, with many people examining the possibility of moving to Canada because that nation \u201chas an easy pathway to citizenship and residency.\u201d<\/p>\n Narrow options ahead<\/p>\n State Rep. Marie Woodson, a Democrat whose district includes Hollywood and Pembroke Pines, aired what many supporters of the Haitian community have been advocating: action by Congress that will provide a long-term extension of TPS and a pathway to citizenship.<\/p>\n \u201c\u201cGive them a path to citizenship, that\u2019s what they need, especially people with no criminal records,\u201d said Woodson. She migrated to South Florida from Haiti in 1981, when the country was ruled by dictator Jean-Claude \u201cBaby Doc\u201d Duvalier, who became \u201cPresident for Life\u201d after the death of his father, Fran\u00e7ois Duvalier.<\/p>\n \u201cThe situation to me, it\u2019s more than concerning,\u201d Woodson said. \u201cIt\u2019s heart-wrenching to me. You have human beings \u2014 law-abiding people who came here legally and they have made a life, which means a lot of them are working.\u201d<\/p>\n On Friday, some lawmakers reportedly met with immigration law experts and community leaders to discuss legal options, as well as ways to keep people safe if Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents start a deportation roundup.<\/p>\n Renata Castro, a longtime immigration lawyer based in Coral Springs, forecast a long road of arrests and litigation.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce the TPS expires, I believe that the government is going to detain people very rapidly just to spread fear in the community,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd after that, as litigation goes forward you will see people released as injunctions will be granted. I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if we get to a place where litigation of this case will end only when we have a new president, which I wouldn\u2019t complain about.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0Countdown to the End of Haiti TPS<\/p>\n June 2025: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announces Haiti TPS will be terminated.![\"Protesters,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/tfl-l-haitian-tps-status-extend-03.jpg\")
Haitian workers shown earlier this year at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport face a potential termination of their Temporary Protected Status on Monday. The withdrawal of their authorizations, will subject them to deportations to Haiti, which remains largely under the control of violent gangs. (Mike Stocker\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
\nDetermined administration<\/p>\n![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/APTOPIX_Haiti_Violence_28207.jpg\")
People displaced by armed gang attacks take refuge at the town hall of the Kenscoff neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, last year. It’s the type of violent environment that Haitian immigrants in South Florida fear if they are forced to return to the Caribbean nation. (AP Photo\/Odelyn Joseph)
\nFear and confusion across industries<\/p>\n![\"State](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/tfl-l-Rep-Woodson-2024-01.jpg\")
State Rep. Marie Woodson, D-Hollywood, and who arrived in the U.S. from Haiti in 1981, asserts Haitian immigrants need and deserve a path to citizenship. . (Marie Woodson\/Courtesy)<\/p>\n
\nJuly 2025: Rights groups sue the government.
\nNovember 2025: Department of Homeland Security announces termination of Haiti\u2019s TPS designation. Later, a federal district court postpones it, finding the decision inconsistent with the law, and potentially in violation of equal protection.
\nFeb. 3, 2026: An expiration deadline is placed on hold by a judge.
\nJune 25: The Supreme Court rules the Trump Administration may terminate TPS programs without undergoing judicial review.
\nJuly 10: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services extends TPS until July 24.
\nJuly 22: U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denies Administration effort to end TPS on Friday, July 24, saying it must wait until Monday, July 27.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As a pep rally for Haitian immigrant airport workers gained steam earlier this month, a labor union official…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":352493,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[506,558,8228,28,249,251,250,686,115,557,4556],"class_list":["post-352492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-broward-county","tag-business","tag-delray-beach","tag-florida","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news","tag-hollywood","tag-news","tag-palm-beach-county","tag-west-palm-beach"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=352492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352492\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/352493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=352492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=352492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=352492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}