CARIBBEAN-New York governor says termination of TPS for Haitians is callous, reckless, inhumane’

NEW YORK, CMC – New York Governor Kathy Hochul has described United States President Donald J. Trump’s termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians and other immigrants as “callous, reckless and inhumane.

In a letter to US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin, Hochul reiterated her strong opposition to the termination of protections for hundreds of thousands of immigrants under TPS.

“I am writing to follow up on a conversation I had with President Trump, and to reiterate my strong opposition to the termination of protections for hundreds of thousands of immigrants under Temporary Protected Status (TPS),” she wrote.

“The callousness of abruptly ending TPS for legally present individuals, including the recent termination for Haitians and the forthcoming termination for Salvadorians, will force New York State and local governments to sever the employment of hundreds of essential employees as soon as next week, putting their livelihoods – and potentially their safety – at risk,” Hochul added. “This impact is not limited to government workers and will be felt by private sector industries across our state.

“The sudden removal of these members of our workforce and our communities will impact critical services that New Yorkers rely on – with a particularly heavy impact on the healthcare industry, putting our seniors and other vulnerable New Yorkers at risk,” the governor continued.

For generations, she said New York has welcomed those fleeing disasters or persecution and seeking a better future.

Through her Office for New Americans, Hochul said her administration has supported thousands of New Yorkers with TPS application assistance and legal representation.

She said New York remains committed to supporting TPS recipients and vowed to continue to do everything in its power to prevent harm to the immigrant community.

“By knowingly and cruelly forcing thousands of families to leave our country and return to their home countries, regardless of any ongoing or worsening humanitarian crises, the White House is committing a reckless and inhumane act,” Hochul told Mullin. “But it is not too late to reverse course.

“I once again urge you to fully restore TPS for those who cannot return due to extreme instability, violence and crises in TPS-designated countries,” she added. “These individuals have made enormous contributions to our communities and our economy, and helped define the character of our state.”

The governor said TPS exists “precisely because people should not be forced back into danger.

“No administration should knowingly send individuals back into harm’s way when the law provides a clear path to protect them,” she said.

“I eagerly await your response to this urgent matter,” Hochul told Mullin. “We, as leaders and as Americans, have a responsibility to protect and preserve the dignity, security and basic livelihood for all.”

As the Haitian community reels from the termination of TPS for almost 350, 000 nationals by the Trump administration, Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani said that New York City will “do everything in its power” to support Haiti TPS recipients “in this time of incredible instability”

“…Including through free legal consultations to assess eligibility for other forms of work authorization, as well as assistance navigating health insurance and other resources for employees and their families,” said the mayor in a statement.

Caribbean-American Democratic Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke said she’s standing firm with her “Haitian neighbors.”

“As TPS for Haiti reaches its premature end and the latest chapter in Donald Trump’s cruel crusade against immigrant Americans begins, I stand with the nearly 350,000 Haitian nationals across the United States who we have come to call our friends, neighbours, and loved ones,” Clarke the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, who co-chairs the US House of Representatives’ Haiti Caucus and Caribbean Caucus, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).

“Since the instant they first joined our communities, Haitian TPS holders have asked only how they might contribute to them,” added Clarke, representative for the predominantly Caribbean 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn and chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.

“Despite the hardships in their home nation weighing on their hearts, they have never stopped embodying everything decent Americans should strive to be,” she continued. “I thank them for all they have given to us – and I mourn for all that may be taken from them.

“This dark day never would have arrived under a moral administration; and yet, it could only have ever been an inevitability under Donald Trump’s,” she said. “And that is because the bigotry that blinds this president’s every action has ensured he will not rest until the American Dream is no more than a distant memory.”

Clarke noted that Trump’s “hired goons” within ICE and the umbrella Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are “mobilizing to terrorize our neighbors and tear apart their families.

“They hope to spread fear far and wide throughout our communities until their distorted vision for America is all there is to see,” she said.

But in the face of such “un-American injustice, we will not yield,” Clarke vowed.

“To our impacted Haitian neighbors, I urge you to remember your inalienable rights, which no president, nor court, nor masked thug can strip from you,” she said. “I, and my like-minded colleagues on both sides of the aisle, will continue to fight for your families.

“We will continue to advocate for our legislation to restore your rightful status and ensure you stay precisely where you belong – in the communities you have only made better across your years as our neighbors,” the congresswoman assured. “And we will continue the work of building a nation that deserves you, and earns your forgiveness.

“This president may have broken the promise of America, but we will not rest until it is made whole again,” Clarke added.