Norah Massenat is breathing a sigh of relief Monday after a federal judge postponed the termination of protected immigration status for hundreds of thousands of Haitians in the United States.
“It’s like a breath of fresh air, but we also know this is temporary,” Massenat said. “I would almost have to start all over in a place I don’t even know.”
Massenat is one of the many other Haitians living in South Florida. She and her parents moved to the United States from Haiti when she was just 3 years old. She doesn’t remember anything about where she was born, but she said there was a possibility that she would have had to go back if it wasn’t for that pivotal decision Monday night.
“It’s been stressful, different waves of anxiety, but in the midst of everything, we’ve been trying to stay hopeful, trusting that God will make a way, and today He did,” Massenat said.
Temporary Protected Status was supposed to end Tuesday, which was a day Massenat feared for a while.
“It would have completely changed life for me, because at that moment, I would have been without a status, I wouldn’t be able to work, drive, life would be drastically different,” Massenat said.
TPS allows foreigners to remain in the U.S. when they can’t return to their own countries safely. It often applies to countries experiencing war, natural disasters or other dangers.
Frandley Julien, a board member for the Haitian Lawyers Association, said hundreds of people called his office Monday, uncertain about the future.
“We’ve had word as well that they positioned officers in Key West to start picking up Haitians in the area,” Julien said. “They can remain here legally, they can work in the U.S., and they cannot be detained by ICE. This is a big deal.”
Many, like Massenat, know the fight is far from over.
“This is just one battle, and we’re still working on the war but we’re glad that at this moment we can take that extra sigh of relief and God is still in the midst of working a solution for us,” Massenat said.