TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV\/Gray Florida Capital Bureau) – Faith leaders gathered outside of Senator Rick Scott\u2019s Tallahassee office for a prayer vigil on Tuesday. <\/p>\n
The group took time to call for the protection of Haitian immigrants. <\/p>\n
Deportation flights from the U.S. to Haiti started back up this year, even as the State Department warns Americans should not travel there. <\/p>\n
That led a group of about 20 pastors to call on Florida\u2019s two senators to support a bill to extend Temporary Protected Status for Haitians.<\/p>\n
Clergy members weren\u2019t allowed into the federal building in Tallahassee as security told them nobody was at Scott\u2019s office to receive them. <\/p>\n
Instead, they made their voices heard on the sidewalk.<\/p>\n
\u201cSenator Scott, Governor Scott was a good governor,\u201d Rev. RB Holmes, Jr., pastor at Bethel Missionary Baptist Church said. \u201cBut once he became senator, he isolated himself from people and causes such as this.\u201d <\/p>\n
Cynthia Pierre said she has family in Haiti where conditions are deplorable, and the U.S. State Department has a \u201cDo Not Travel\u201d advisory.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd to mention that there\u2019s rarely any suitable jobs or work, it\u2019s sad. It\u2019s sad,\u201d Pierre said.<\/p>\n
She said there simply isn\u2019t enough infrastructure to deport the 200,000 Haitians currently in Florida who recently lost their Temporary Protected Status.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose who qualify to get under a permanent status get that opportunity so that our economy can continue to thrive,\u201d Pierre said. \u201cIt\u2019s hurting us all the way around. This really was not thought through at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
The clergy called for a specific action: Sign onto a bill the U.S. House already passed to extend Haitian TPS until 2029.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we\u2019re saying as a country they ought not travel to Haiti, then why send them back to Haiti? Where\u2019s the compassion? Where\u2019s the love?\u201d Holmes said.<\/p>\n
We have reached out to a spokesperson for Sen. Scott and have not yet heard back.<\/p>\n
The clergy also called on U.S. Senator Ashley Moody to back the bill. Since it already passed the House, it would need to pass the Senate and then be signed into law by President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
Odds are long, however, as the executive branch decides which TPS designations to end in the first place.<\/p>\n