LEGISLATOR CARRIÉ SOLAGES URGES YOUR SUPPORT TO CALL UPON PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP AND THE SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY TO EXTEND THE TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS (TPS) FOR HAITI.

We, the undersigned, join Nassau County Legislator Carrié Solages in urging the President of the United States and the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, to extend the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti as a humanitarian gesture that will alleviate the country's socioeconomic burden and ease its recovery following the 2010 Earthquake and Hurricane Matthew.

We ask for this extension given the ongoing economic, infrastructural and social challenges currently facing Haiti, making it impossible to withstand an influx of deported Haitian Nationals. Haiti was designated for TPS following the catastrophic 2010 earthquake, which left approximately 230,000 dead and 300,000 injured. In the years that have followed, Haiti has been plagued by infrastructural damage, political unrest, economic stagnation, and a cholera epidemic that has killed more than 10,000 and sickened hundreds of thousands more.

Conditions in Haiti were made even worse in October 2016, when Hurricane Matthew, a category 4 hurricane, devastated the country with 145 mile winds and heavy rains. Hurricane Matthew destroyed homes, roads and bridges, affecting more than 350,000 Haitians. The hurricane represents a new emergency situation in Haiti, causing the need for continued humanitarian assistance, including: TPS for nationals of Haiti following Hurricane Matthew, a status that had been previously granted following the 2010 earthquake; expanding the Haitian Family Reunification Program (HFRP) to allow United States citizens and permanent residents to apply for parole for family members; and, suspending removals of non-criminal Haitian Nationals, continuing a policy the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement followed from 2011 through September 2016.

While the people of Haiti have shown incredible resilience over these last few years, natural and man-made disasters have led to the need for continued humanitarian immigration relief. Therefore, we request that the President of the United States and the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security extend the Temporary Protected Status, expand the Haitian Reunification Parole Program and suspend the removal of non-criminal Haitian Nationals as a humanitarian gesture in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew.