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<\/a>FORT PIERCE, Fla. \u2014<\/p>\nTens of thousands of Haitians in South Florida are facing uncertainty as the deadline for Temporary Protected Status is set to expire on Monday, following a federal appeals court decision to delay the expiration this past Friday. <\/p>\n
“It’s a constant battle,” Meschac St. Amour, president of Habitat for Children Ministries on the Treasure Coast, said. “Today it’s yes, you can stay. Tomorrow it’s no, you cannot stay. And that person, even if they have a car, they effort to drive it on the street, even if they’re illegal, they pay the bills. So, what is the problem?” <\/p>\n
TPS allows individuals from countries experiencing turmoil to remain in the U.S. and work legally. Haitians were first granted this status after a catastrophic earthquake devastated their country in 2010. <\/p>\n
“You got a lot of people who sell everything that have to come,” St. Amour said. “Because all those people, it’s not because they don’t have nothing. But as you and me, you’re always looking for a better opportunity.” <\/p>\n
St. Amour, whose nonprofit organization conducts ministry work in Haiti and Guatemala, recently returned from a month-and-a-half-long mission trip to Haiti. <\/p>\n
“Basically, what we’ve been doing for the last 20 years is collecting backpacks, pens, pencils, clothing, food, anything that we can bring to Haiti to the children so we could help them have a better school year,” St. Amour said. “Besides that, we help them with healthcare.” <\/p>\n
The expiration of TPS could also have significant consequences for local industries, particularly healthcare. In a letter to the Department of Homeland Security, the Florida Health Care Association warned that recent TPS policy changes could severely impact elder care across the state. The organization estimates that as many as 35,000 healthcare workers in Florida could lose their work authorization if Haitian TPS holders are forced to leave. <\/p>\n
“That type of work, which is the healthcare system overnight, and what they call CNA and LPN, these are the Caribbean immigrants who do those jobs,” St. Amour said. “Because one thing is this country is not only American people who built it, it’s everyone’s effort to make it the way it is now.” <\/p>\n
If TPS is not extended again, the Trump administration has stated that thousands of Haitians living in the United States under the program will face deportation. In Florida alone, more than 100,000 Haitians could be sent back to their home country. <\/p>\n
“Right now, we have needs of housing in Haiti,” St. Amour said. “We have a housing problem, and I visit some places where people sleep under the tent. They’re still sleeping under the tent.”<\/p>\n