How a protected migrant program lets Haitians work in the U.S.

Haitian immigrants living in the Ohio city of Springfield have found themselves at the center of the heated debate around immigration, one of the key issues ahead of the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election.

Earlier this month during the U.S. presidential debate between Republican Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Kamala Harris, Trump repeated false claims that Haitian arrivals were eating household pets in Springfield.

On Sept 14, Trump, who has blamed the Biden government for failing to stem high levels of illegal immigration, pledged to conduct mass deportations of Haitian immigrants in Springfield if elected.

The majority of the 15,000 Haitians in Springfield are there legally, including under a program known as 'Temporary Protected Status' (TPS).

What is TPS?

U.S. Congress created the TPS program as part of The Immigration Act of 1990 to provide humanitarian relief and prevent deportations of migrants whose home countries are considered unsafe, mainly due to natural disasters or conflict.

In 1990, TPS was offered for the first time to Salvadorans fleeing the country's 12-year civil war. 

The U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security has discretion to decide when a country merits a TPS designation, which can last 6, 12, or 18 months at a time, and is frequently renewed.

Since its creation more than three decades ago, the TPS program has been broadly supported by Democrats and Republicans.

But Trump, during his term as U.S. president from 2017 to 2021, sought to end TPS for hundreds of thousands of migrants as part of his efforts to restrict immigration.

Trump's attempts to end most TPS enrollment was slowed by legal challenges and blocked in federal courts.

A federal appeals court in September 2020 allowed Trump to proceed with the wind-down, but Biden reversed that and expanded the program after taking office.

Which countries are on the TPS list?

As of September 2024, 16 countries across the world, including Haiti, have been designated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for TPS, all of which have been extended through 2025 or 2026.

This includes countries facing conflict and or high levels of violence such as Cameroon, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen.

The TPS list also includes three countries in Central America - Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua - as well as Venezuela, and Ukraine after it was invaded by Russia in 2022.

Since 1990, hundreds and thousands of people have also been allowed to live and work in the United States because of natural disasters, such as a hurricane, drought, epidemic and earthquake in their home countries.

Honduras and Nicaragua were given TPS after Hurricane Mitch battered parts of Central America in 1998. Later in 2001, Salvadorans were eligible for TPS after a devastating earthquake hit El Salvador.

Haiti was first assigned TPS after a massive earthquake destroyed much of the Caribbean nation in 2010, and it received the designation again in 2021 and 2022 amid continued gang violence and a humanitarian and political crisis.

In September 2023, the Biden administration expanded the TPS program for Venezuelans fleeing economic and political turmoil in their homeland.

This allows about 472,000 Venezuelans already living in the U.S. on or before July 31 2023 eligible for TPS for a period of 18 months. Some 243,000 Venezuelans already have the status stemming from a 2021 designation that was renewed in 2022.

In the case of Haiti, the TPS program was extended to Haitians June 28. through February 2026.

The U.S Department of Homeland Security cited violence and "urgent" and "overlapping" humanitarian needs in Haiti combined with its high exposure to climate-change driven extreme weather.

"Several regions in Haiti continue to face violence or insecurity, and many have limited access to safety, health care, food, and water," Homeland Security said.

"Haiti is particularly prone to flooding and mudslides, and often experiences significant damage due to storms, flooding, and earthquakes," the June 28. statement said.

The move - one of the largest expansions of TPS — allows about 309,000 additional Haitians to file for TPS, providing they were residing in the U.S. on or before June 3.

How many people live in the United States under TPS?

While not considered permanent residents or U.S. citizens, many TPS holders have lived in the United States for more than twenty years. TPS holders can also apply for work permits.

As of March 31 2024, nearly 900,000 immigrants are TPS holders and are spread out across the country, with the largest populations concentrated in California, Florida, New York, and Texas.

There are an additional 486,418 initial or renewal applications pending at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), according to the American Immigration Council.

How do TPS holders contribute to the U.S. economy?

Research shows the economic benefits of the TPS program, as most TPS holders are employed and are taxpayers.

In 2021, TPS holders contributed more than $2.2 billion in taxes, including almost $1 billion to state and local governments, according to a 2023 report by the American Immigration Council.

Supporters of the TPS program also point to the damaging economic impact of removing TPS holders from the United States on home countries that rely on remittances to prop up the local economy.

Remittances from Haitians living abroad, many in the United States, reached $4.4 billion in 2021, representing 21% of Haiti's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to the World Bank.

But critics of the TPS program say that it was originally created to provide only temporary humanitarian relief and should not be applied as a permanent measure and renewed frequently.

On average, TPS recipients have spent more than twenty years in the United States.

(Reporting by Anastasia Moloney; Editing by Yasir Khan.)