A Brief Note On Haitian Immigrants And Immigration

The United States tried to protect Haitian Immigrants but has ultimately failed. Immigration policies are only impactful if the system is willing to protect them. In 2010, Haiti was struck by an earthquake that killed thousands and displaced millions of people, and many of them came to the United States seeking asylum. Due to the increase of Haitian immigrants, Congress instituted the Temporary Protected Status (TPS). While Temporary Protected Status has been granted to groups from El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Honduras, the government continues to fail them by ignoring their importance. Implementing a policy to help immigrants is important, but the continuation of the policy increases its significance. Until the United States prioritizes immigrant

Conditions for the small country worsened as a devastating earthquake struck Haiti in 2010, and over 300,000 people were killed, and 1.5 million were displaced, leaving them homeless. Just months after the earthquake hit, Haiti experienced the worst cholera outbreak in recent history, killing thousands, and infecting more than 6% of the population (Cook). Despite efforts from humanitarians and charities around the world, things never seemed to get better as access to clean drinking water and safe shelter became scarce. As the environment became virtually uninhabitable, many Haitians came to the United States, seeking asylum, and an opportunity to better the lives for themselves and their

Under TPS, individuals from Haiti were now allowed to reside in the United States and remain protected from deportation as long as they followed the rules outlined by their TPS status. In 2010, the number of immigrants who lived in the United States rose by 168,000 from 2000 to 2010, and again by 89,000 in 2015, as depicted in the diagram to the right. As Haitian immigrants came to the United States, they settled mainly in Florida, with an increasing population in New York and New Jersey.
On November 20, 2017, the Department of Homeland Security announced that Haitian Temporary Protected Status would not be renewed, after consistent renewal since it was implemented in 2010. This decision affects over 60,000 Haitian immigrants, many of whom have lived here for decades. Without the Protected Status, many of them are now at risk of being detained and deported (Tometi). Even still, 60,000 Haitian immigrants are subject to move back to a country that has yet to recover from its years of economic and environmental