This week, the Trump administration made the cruel announcement that it will strip away rights and work permits from 50,000 men and women from Haiti by ending their Temporary Protected Status. Our UNITE HERE sister, Marie Parfait, is one of the tens of thousands of Haitian immigrants who will be facing deportation in 18 months—even though she and others have been living and working here legally for nearly a decade.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said of the decision: "At a holiday time when families come together, the administration is literally tearing families apart. The labor movement supports TPS as an essential program to protect the rights of all workers and the freedom to join together to negotiate for a fair return on work."
TPS was created to protect people who are unable to return to countries experiencing crises such as war, natural disaster or ongoing violence. It helps prevent hardworking people from returning to conditions that could cost them their lives. In the case of Haiti, TPS status was granted after a devastating earthquake in 2010, and the island nation has since been hit by more than one Category 4 hurricane and a cholera epidemic that sickened nearly 1 million people.
Labor unions are making a strong statement that people who have lived here for decades and played by the rules should not be sent back to harm’s way and instead should be offered a well-earned path to legalization and citizenship. Our entire workforce will suffer if immigrant working people are stripped of their rights and status. Congress is considering legislation (H.R. 4253 and S. 2144) that would provide a solution; they need to hear from you to make it happen.
The ability to exploit any person undermines standards for us all. TPS is a crucial program that provides work permits, allowing people to stand up for their rights on the job instead of living in the shadows. TPS holders are members of our families, our unions and our communities who have made positive contributions to our society for many years.
Make a call now at 1-844-551-6921 to ask your representative to protect TPS.