AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler issued the following statement on the vote today in the House of Representatives to protect temporary protected status (TPS) for Haiti, following a discharge petition led by Rep. Ayanna Pressley (Mass.). The AFL-CIO and 11 affiliated unions have submitted an amicus brief to the Supreme Court documenting the broad harm of the Trump administration’s attempt to terminate Haiti TPS for a wide range of industries.
The AFL-CIO calls on members of Congress to stand with working people and reject the Trump administration’s relentless anti-immigrant, anti-worker agenda. Mass deportation policies have wreaked havoc on our workforce, our economy and our communities, pushing workers out of their jobs and destabilizing families and industries.
The Trump administration’s campaign to broadly cancel TPS has needlessly stripped nearly a million people of their work permits. If its move to cancel TPS for Haitians is successful, it would amount to firing hundreds of thousands of experienced, tax-paying workers who are essential to our economy, including those in care, construction, hospitality, manufacturing and more. Today, the House has a chance to take a much-needed, commonsense step to stabilize our communities and economy by voting to extend Haiti TPS.
The AFL-CIO has fought TPS cancellation in the courts, in Congress and in the streets, and commits to continuing that fight until these valued members of our workforce and our movement win the lasting protections all workers in this country deserve. We applaud the tenacity of the workers, unions and allies, alongside champions who helped bring this legislation to the floor, and we call on every member of Congress to vote for it.
Contact: Mia Jacobs, 202-637-5018