CHICAGO (WLS) — On Thursday, Chicago’s Haitian community, alongside immigration advocates, convened to protest the looming expiration of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians. The rally took place just hours before the program was scheduled to end for several other immigrant groups on Friday.
This protest follows a recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, which supported the Trump administration’s decision to terminate TPS for thousands of immigrants from nations including Haiti and Syria. As a result, Haitian immigrants and local businesses face a cloud of uncertainty about their future.
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In Chicago’s Far South Side, the owners of Lior’s Café expressed their worry regarding the fate of their Haitian employees, who might soon be obliged to leave their positions as TPS comes to an end.
“It’s frightening,” remarked Merlyn Jose, a manager at Lior’s Café. “You come here, establish a family, work, and become a contributing member of society. Then, suddenly, it all might vanish.”
TPS is a program designed to allow individuals escaping natural disasters, war, and regimes of persecution to live and work legally in the U.S. Currently, approximately 350,000 Haitians are beneficiaries of TPS, many having migrated to America in the aftermath of Haiti’s catastrophic 2010 earthquake.
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority sided with the Trump administration in its effort to end TPS protections for immigrants from several countries.
At the Jean Baptiste Point du Sable monument on Michigan Avenue, a coalition of local Haitian American organizations called on lawmakers to take action.
“Long before Chicago became the great city that we know today, an immigrant from Haiti helped lay its foundation,” said Patrick Brutus, co-founder of the Haitian American Professional Network.
The group was joined by lead counsel in Miot v. Trump, the TPS case that was struck down by the nation’s highest court.
“It was very much a gut-punch,” said attorney Geoff Pipoly.
“To simply have the highest court in the land brush all that evidence to one side with a wave of a hand and say it doesn’t matter, and it’s not overtly racial when it very clearly is, is hard to take,” Pipoly said.
Immigrant advocates are also urging Congress to pass Senate Bill 4814, a measure that would require the Department of Homeland Security to designate Haiti for Temporary Protected Status.
As the expiration date approaches, Haitian residents, workers and business owners across Chicago say they are facing an uncertain future while awaiting the next steps from lawmakers and federal officials.
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