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Judson Brown of Brooksville is a retired journalist.
Who benefits from a ruling to end “temporary protected status” (TPS) for 350,000 Haitians, some more than 6,000 Syrians and potentially thousands from other countries and subjecting them to immediate deportation?
Certainly not the people with the protected status, the vast majority of whom have become valued employees doing difficult, essential work in a variety of key occupations such as in nursing homes, assisted living facilities and hospitals. Not the patients and families reliant on this care. Not the owners and administrators of these facilities. Not any of us who depend on a social and health care “safety net” to allow us and our loved ones to live with decency and security. Not the wonderful families of these immigrants who have integrated themselves in our communities and are eager to become patriotic American citizens.
The Supreme Court majority may be technically correct in determining that the specific crises that precipitated the granting of TPS originally, such as the earthquake that decimated Haiti in 2010, have abated. But other crises have ensued making it as dangerous as ever for many immigrants to return home. In Haiti currently, there is a widespread breakdown of civil order with gangs running rampant with unchecked power, which they are exercising in random and brutal fashion. It is likely more dangerous than ever to live in Haiti. Forcing ex-patriots to return now is blatantly inhumane.
There was always provision in the law to extend the protected status based on a fresh examination of conditions in the country of origin. This administration has chosen to ignore this provision and interpret the law narrowly according to the letter. This Supreme Court has reasoned — if that is the word for it — that proceeding by the letter and ignoring the humanitarian spirit of the law is perfectly OK.
Graced by the real spirit of the law, Haitian immigrants have been granted extensions repeatedly over the past 16 years. During that time, not only have conditions in Haiti not improved, but protected Haitian immigrants in the U.S. have thrived. They have found work, they have bought homes, they have started families, they have invested in their communities. This is a whole generation that has woven itself positively into the fabric of our American life.
It is technically correct that many immigrants here under protected status have overstayed their welcome. But I believe it is morally repugnant, not to mention practically misguided, that folks who came here through this gateway and put down roots and contributed in overwhelmingly positive ways to our collective life, should now be sent packing back to the countries where conditions are worse than those that prevailed when our country — then a far better nation than we are today — was roused to welcome these “tired … poor yearning to breathe free.”