Haitian New Yorkers Ask Whether They Must Now Leave the U.S.

A day after the Trump administration announced it would not allow 59,000 Haitians to remain in the U.S. beyond July, 2019, demonstrators gathered to protest the decision in lower Manhattan. But visibly absent from the rally were the people directly affected: Haitian recipients of TPS or Temporary Protected Status.

"People don't know what to do," said Ritha Pierre, who heads the Haitian-American Lawyers Association of New York. "That's why, unfortunately, we don't have many TPS recipients out here to speak to you, because they don't know what's going to happen and they don't want to be highlighted."

New York City's Haitian population is the nation's second largest, after Miami's, so the decision to end TPS protections strongly reverberated through the community. The protection is offered to nationals of a number of countries that have experienced natural disasters or political instability.

For Sebastien Dejean, a 26-year-old grad student and TPS recipient, the idea of returning to Haiti would be his "worst nightmare."

Dejean said he'd assess his options, including whether he can obtain a work visa or student visa.

Bitta Mostofi, the city's acting commissioner of immigrant affairs, called it "another dark day" for the Trump administration, and said the decision to end TPS was both inhumane and cruel. 

But city officials and immigration advocates urged Haitian New Yorkers to take advantage of free legal services by calling 311, and to avoid immigration scams. 

A series of town halls for the Haitian community are expected to take place in the coming weeks.