Biden administration extends deportation relief for Haitian immigrants, allows new applications

The Biden administration on Saturday announced it will extend deportation protections and work permits for 54,000 Haitian immigrants living in the U.S. with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and allow hundreds of thousands of other eligible Haitians to request relief.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said he will extend the TPS designation for Haiti by 18 months, allowing current recipients to renew their protections, which the Trump administration sought to end. Mayorkas also opened the program to new applicants, allowing eligible Haitian immigrants to apply for TPS as along as they had arrived in the U.S. by Friday, May 21. "Haiti is currently experiencing serious security concerns, social unrest, an increase in human rights abuses, crippling poverty, and lack of basic resources, which are exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic," Mayorkas said. "After careful consideration, we determined that we must do what we can to support Haitian nationals in the United States until conditions in Haiti improve so they may safely return home."