Last week President Barack Obama granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Haitians for a period of 18 months. This applies those already living in the US, but without legal papers. It prevents their detainment or deportation, and enables them to work legally. The purpose of this status is to protect persons who cannot return to their country of origin due to unsafe conditions. After the devastation wrought by the 7.0 earthquake a week ago Tuesday, Haiti clearly qualifies.
A total of approximately 100,000 Haitians in the US are covered, including 30,000 who are in the process of deportation. TPS, however, does not protect criminals or persons who would otherwise be forbidden from seeking asylum.
Countries given Temporary Protected Status over the past two decades include El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Burundi, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, and Sudan, for reasons of internal war or natural disaster. Eligibility is usually given in 12 to 18 month time periods, and is often extended – Nicaraguans and Honduras have been covered since 1999 (Hurricane Mitch struck in 1998), and Salvadorans since 2001 (after a series of earthquakes).
To be protected by TPS, a person typically must register on a yearly basis. This may raise the question of what happens once the status is revoked. Will they then be deported? This has not happened to date. As a result, critics of TPS say that it serves as amnesty, and that those protected now are not later deported; they argue that protection cannot be called “temporary” if it ends up becoming permanent.
Proponents of TPS for Haitians explain that those it shields will be able to work in the US and send funds back to family and friends in Haiti. As a previous posting explained, the remittances sent by this diaspora will serve a key factor in rebuilding the country.
More information on TPS can be found at the website of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, through this link.
