Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami is calling on Congress to find a “permanent” solution for Haitian refugees in the United States.
On Feb. 2 a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for hundreds of thousands of Haitian immigrants that was given in 2010. TPS provides eligible Haitians in the U.S. with protection from deportation and work authorization, due to ongoing safety concerns in Haiti.
As Florida has the largest Haitian population in the country, Wenski said there is “relief” after the judge blocked the order. Ending TPS “would affect possibly 300,000 Haitians, not only here in South Florida but throughout the United States,” he said in an interview with “EWTN News Nightly.”
“It’s not the final solution … because the administration, I think, has the intention of making an appeal, and what is given could be quickly taken away as well. While the Haitians are breathing a sigh of relief, at the same time, we realize that it’s a temporary relief.”
Now, Wenski said, it is up to Congress “to step up to the plate and provide a more permanent solution to the plight of these Haitians.” The administration “is applying the laws as they understand them, but it is Congress that makes the laws.”
“If the laws are unfair, unjust, or inadequate to the real needs of our country, then they should be changed, and that’s a prerogative of Congress. So I would urge Congress to step up to provide a solution, because the Haitians being forced back to Haiti with very perilous, dangerous conditions right now … puts their lives in danger.”
The Haitians “leaving South Florida and other places in the United States so abruptly would cause great economic damage to the United States,” Wenski said. He detailed that Haitians in the U.S. with TPS are working gainfully, paying taxes, and participating in the economy.
“It is also important to remember, these people have temporary protective status, which also grants them a work permit. They are not illegals. They’re not violating any law because they have been given a status by the government,” Wenski said.
TPS status does put them “in limbo,” Wenski said. It “doesn’t provide any path to permanent residency. If they would leave the country, they would not be able to return.”
Concerns in Haiti
As the U.S. State Department tells Americans not to travel to Haiti, when “the Trump administration puts a travel ban, trying to stop people from Haiti,” it “shows the perilousness of the country conditions,” Wenski said.
“For instance, the capital city, where there’s about 3 million people residing, is in the hands of gangs,” he said. “Here’s a country that has its school system in disarray because gangs make it impossible for kids to go to school.”
Wenski also highlighted the issue of “almost nonexistent health care” as “doctors have been forced to flee and hospitals have been closed” in the country.
“It is a place where there is no rule of law, no government, where these gangs and other criminals operate with impunity. For many people, the only lifeline that they have that allows them to survive is the remittances, small as they might be, that the Haitians in the United States are sending home to support families,” Wenski said.
“It’s a real problem, not only in Haiti, but the Caribbean region,” Wenski said. He specifically noted Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador.
“We see the drugs that are being transported into Europe from Asia and also Africa. It is a worldwide problem. What I think we have to recognize is that the poorest people are not the ones that are driving the problem. They are the victims of the problem.”
The Haitians in the U.S. seeking refuge and protection “did not create the problems, but they were the ones that have been victimized by the problems,” Wenski said.
“We have to be careful that we don’t blame the victims because it’s easier to do that sometimes because they don’t have the strength to oppose us,” Wenski said.
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