WASHINGTON (CMC) – Several United States legislators, including Congresswoman Yvette D Clarke, have made an appeal to the Joe Biden administration to redesignate Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and pause deportations back to the French-speaking Caribbean Community (Caricom) country.

The congressional representatives, along with Haiti Caucus Co-Chairs, Congresswomen Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida, joined a group of 50 lawmakers in urging Washington to extend humanitarian parole to any Haitians currently detained in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) detention centres, end detention of Haitian migrants intercepted at sea, and provide additional humanitarian assistance for violence-wracked Haiti.

“Additionally, we request your administration’s end to the detention of Haitian migrants who were interdicted at sea. The possibility of transferring them to Guantánamo Bay naval base and other offshore migrant detention centres is concerning and must not be explored,” the group pleaded.

It added: “In addition, we are asking that you provide humanitarian assistance to help Haitians navigate these tragically traumatic and difficult times. As you are aware, Haiti is amid an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, as gang violence plagues the country driven in large part by extreme political instability.”

The congressional representatives said the extension and redesignation of TPS for Haiti will protect Haitian migrants against removal to a country ill-equipped to handle their return.

They noted that the current TPS designation is effective until August 3, 2024, and that all the conditions leading to the Biden administration’s original TPS redesignations on December 5, 2022, and August 3, 2021, “in addition to the deteriorating crisis described herein, exhibit temporary and extraordinary conditions that make a safe return to Haiti impossible”.

In addition, the legislators called on the Biden administration to extend Special Student Relief employment benefits for nonimmigrant students from Haiti experiencing severe economic hardship. This notice is also set to expire on August 3, 2024.

Further, they strongly urged the administration to stop the unconditional deportation of migrants to Haiti, expressing alarm that 65 Haitian migrants interdicted at sea were recently repatriated.

The congressional representatives noted that the US Department of State has issued a Level 4 Travel Advisory for Haiti, citing high rates of kidnapping, crime and civil unrest.