Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami said on March 12 that ending temporary protected status (TPS) for Haitians living in the United States would be like “sending people into a burning building.” The Trump administration recently asked the U.S. Supreme Court to remove legal protections from Haitians with TPS, which currently shields them from deportation and allows them to work due to ongoing safety concerns in Haiti.
The issue is significant because TPS protects hundreds of thousands of Haitians who have lived and worked legally in the U.S. since it was granted after the 2010 earthquake. The Justice Department has requested that the Supreme Court lift a judge’s decision blocking the end of TPS, raising concerns about the impact on both Haitian families and local communities.
Wenski said, “I would hope that the court does not support the Trump initiative at this time because this would create tremendous pain … both with the Haitians affected by the end of TPS, but also of the local community here, which today benefits from these people’s participation in our labor force.” He added that working Haitians pay millions in taxes and are vital to Miami’s agriculture, construction, hospitality, and health care sectors. “And the president is a businessman; he should understand that this would hurt business in a very, very real way,” Wenski said.
He described Haiti as being “in free fall,” without an elected government for over six years and plagued by violence that disrupts daily life. Wenski explained, “There’s no end in sight to the violence that is affecting about a third of the country, especially the capital area, where gangs control many parts of the neighborhoods, which make schooling impossible.” He noted that similar challenges exist for Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Cuba.
Wenski also discussed changes affecting Cubans who arrived under humanitarian visas during recent years. He said more than 500,000 people entered legally but now face losing their legal status: “That means that they never spent a day illegal in this country because they came here legally…and then all of a sudden…they become without legal status and are told to go home.”
On Cuba’s situation, Wenski said both Cuban Americans and those on the island hope for change but remain nervous about possible instability: “They need a soft landing, not a landing that would be harsh…Whether the Trump administration has the ability to engineer such a soft landing still remains to be seen.” He described current conditions as dire: “There’s no food, there’s no fuel, there’s no freedom, and for many people, no hope.”
The archbishop highlighted how after Hurricane Melissa hit Cuba several months ago, aid from Miami was among the first received. For the first time ever, U.S. government funds were accepted by Cuba through Church channels: “$3 million from the U.S. government…was going to be distributed through Cáritas…the charity agency of the Church in Cuba.” Additional aid followed with another $6 million grant.
“So the Church is a very important player in Cuba and beyond,” Wenski concluded.
