Joint Letter to President Biden, DHS, DPC, NSA and DOS on Immediate Protection of Haitians Inside the U.S. and at the Southern Border After Assassination of President Moïse

The Honorable Joseph Biden Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas

President of the United States Department of Homeland Security

Amb. Susan Rice Jake Sullivan

Domestic Policy Council National Security Advisor

Anthony J. Blinken

Secretary of State


Submitted via email July 8, 2021

Re: Joint Letter to President Biden, DHS, DPC, NSA and DOS on Immediate Protection of Haitians Inside the U.S. and at the Southern Border After Assassination of President Moïse

Dear President Biden, Secretary Mayorkas, Amb. Rice, Advisor Sullivan and Secretary Blinken:

The undersigned 134 human rights, humanitarian, immigration and women’s rights organizations come to you in great fear for the people of Haiti after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse and serious injury of the first lady, Martine Moïse, at home in the middle of the night. 

Armed gangs control many streets and have been kidnapping civilians, including school children and church pastors in the middle of their services. Now, experts warn that the political vacuum left by President Moise’s assassination could exacerbate  the current cycle of violence in Haiti. At this time of great political and social uncertainty, it would be unconscionable and unlawful for the United States to refuse the entry of Haitians seeking protection at the U.S. border or to pursue removal proceedings, detention, deportation or expulsion of any Haitian nationals to conditions that can only be described as dangerous. 

The Biden Administration publicly acknowledged the political turmoil and violence overtaking life in Haiti and rightfully redesignated Haiti for temporary protected status (TPS) on May 22, 2021 for an 18-month period. As DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in his TPS announcement, 

Haiti is currently experiencing serious security concerns, social unrest, an increase in human rights abuses, crippling poverty, and lack of basic resources, which are exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. . . . After careful consideration, we determined that we must do what we can to support Haitian nationals in the United States until conditions in Haiti improve so they may safely return home.

We are grateful that the Administration took this step as it may provide protection to over one hundred thousand Haitians and their U.S. family members living here, but eligible Haitians still await publication in the Federal Register so that they can apply for TPS. A coherent domestic and foreign policy agenda with Haiti is crucial to ensuring that the rights and protection of Haitians are prioritized through the compassionate exercise of prosecutorial discretion inside the United States and the application of U.S. asylum law to those seeking refuge at the border. No Haitian should be subjected to expedited removal or reinstatement of removal given the lives at stake and the Biden administration’s own assessment of the dangerous conditions in Haiti. 

As Paul Pierrilus, who has been in hiding since he was deported to Haiti in February 2021 even though he was not born in Haiti and is not a Haitian citizen, said today: “If the country is not safe for its own President how can it be safe for someone like me?”

More than one million Haitians and Americans of Haitian descent  are part of our American fabric, establishing robust communities in states such as Florida, New York and Massashusetts where more than two-thirds live, and contributing their literature, art, cuisine, and effort to public health and countless businesses and nonprofits across the United States. Thousands more Haitians are stranded in treacherous conditions in Mexican border towns as they attempt to seek protection in the U.S. but face insurmountable barriers due to Title 42. Over two thousand more have been deported under the Biden Administration back to the same conditions that spurred a redesignation of TPS. We urge the Biden Administration to pursue a coherent domestic and foreign policy agenda, stand in solidarity with the Haitian community and immediately implement the following measures:

  • Direct Senior Official Performing the Duties of CBP Commissioner Troy A. Miller to instruct CBP agents and officers to issue parole to all Haitians seeking protection at a U.S. border, refer them into INA Sec. 240 removal proceedings, and then ICE attorneys should join a motion to administratively close 240 proceedings and a referral of any asylum claim to the USCIS Asylum Office for adjudication. Mr. Miller should also direct CBP officers and agents to end Title 42 expulsions and deportation flights and process Haitian and other asylum seekers at ports of entry;

  • Direct Acting ICE Director Tae D. Johnson and Principal Legal Advisor John D. Trasviña to issue guidance to ICE officers, agents, and trial attorneys to refrain from pursuing removal proceedings or the detention or deportation of Haitian nationals while the country remains in crisis;

  • Publish the Haiti TPS redesignation in the Federal Register so that eligible Haitians may apply for protection;

  • Employ a presumption against firm resettlement for all newly eligible TPS applicants from Haiti, including those previously deemed firmly resettled by an Immigration Judge.  Where applicable, DHS should grant Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) or some other form of deferred action to any Haitian TPS applicant who may ultimately be denied TPS due solely to firm resettlement;

  • Reinstate the Haitian Family Reunification Parole (HFRP) Program, which allowed certain eligible U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents to apply for parole for their family members in Haiti who have approved immigrant visa petitions but who cannot reunite with family members due to the years-long backlog in visa processing. 

  • Establish a mechanism to support Haitians who were unjustly deported in the past few years to Haiti so that they may be reunited with family and receive the protection of which they were deprived.  

Sincerely:

Guerline Jozef, Co-founder and Executive Director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, guerline.jozef@gmail.com  

Patrice Lawrence, Co-Director of UndocuBlack Network, Patrice@undocublack.org 

ABISA

Adhikaar

African Communities Together

African Diaspora for Good Governance

Al Otro Lado

Alabama Coalition for Immigrant justice

Aldea - The People's Justice Center

Alianza Americas

Alternative Chance

America's Voice

American Friends Service Committee

American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) 

Americans for Immigrant Justice

Amnesty International USA

AMURT-Haiti

ASISTA

Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP)

Black Alliance for Just Immigration

Black LGBTQ+ Migrant Project (BLMP)

Border Network for Human Rights

Brooklyn Defender Services

Broward for Progress

CASA

Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc.

Center for Civic Policy

Center for Gender & Refugee Studies

Central American Resource Center of Northern CA - CARECEN SF

Church World Service

Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA)

CODEPINK

Colectivo Mujeres Trasnacionales

Community Asylum Seekers Project

Community Change Action

Comunidades Unidas

CRECEN

Detention Watch Network

Diaspora Community Services

Disciples Refugee & Immigration Ministries

Education Consultant

Fair Immigration Reform Movement Action (FIRMA)

Faith in New York

Faith in Public Life

Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement

Families for Freedom

First Focus on Children

Florida Council of Churches

Florida Immigrant Coalition 

Forum on Haitian Migration in the Americas

Friends of Matènwa

FWD.us

Gender Action

Global Justice Clinic, Washington Square Legal Services

Guatemaltecos Sin Fronteras 

Haiti Support Group

Haitian Bridge Alliance

Hispanic Federation

Hope Border Institute

Human Rights First

Human Rights Initiative of North Texas

Human Rights Watch

Immigrant Advocacy Network

Immigrant Defenders Law Center

Immigrant Defense Project

Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota

Immigrants Rising

Immigration Hub

Indivisible

Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH)

International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP)

International Tribunal of Conscience of Peoples in Movement

Jobs With Justice

Just Futures Law

Just Haiti, Inc.

Justice Action Center

LA RED, Faith in Action

Latin America Working Group (LAWG)

Latinas en Poder

Lawyers Committee for Civil and Human Rights

Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG)

Lula LGBTQ  Inc.

Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service

Mainers for Accountable leadership 

Make the Road New Jersey

Make the Road PA 

Michigan People's Campaign

Michigan United

Mijente

MoveOn

National Association of Social Workers 

National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA)

National Immigrant Justice Center 

National Immigration Law Center

NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice

New American Leaders Action Fund 

New York County Defender Services

OneAmerica

Oxfam America

PICO California

Piña Soul, SPC

Poder Latinx

Positive Women’s Network-USA

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Presente.org

Priority Africa Network

Progressive Leadership Alliance Of Nevada

Project Blueprint

Quixote Center

RAICES

Refugees International

RITA-Reform Immigration for Texas Alliance

Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights

Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network

Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

SPLC Action Fund

Strangers No Longer

Stuart Center JPIC Office

Texas Civil Rights Project

The Advocates for Human Rights

The Bronx Defenders

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants

UndocuBlack

Unidos Mn 

Unitarian Universalist Service Committee 

United Stateless 

United We Dream

University of Glasgow

Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA)

We Are Home 

Wind of the Spirit Immigrant Resource Center

Witness at the Border

Women’s Refugee Commission

Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights



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