Florida’s Restaurants and Hotels Beg for Time as Haitian TPS Workers Face the Exit

Florida’s hospitality industry is urgently appealing to the Trump administration to protect the Haitian and Syrian workers vital to keeping the state’s tourist economy running.
Following the Supreme Court ruling that cleared the way for the termination of Temporary Protected Status, Florida’s hospitality sector is sounding the alarm: the sudden loss of these workers would not merely inconvenience employers — it could remove a substantial share of the state’s hospitality workforce overnight.

Importantly, this plea comes not from immigrant advocates or Haitian community organizations, but directly from the businesses themselves.

On June 29, the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association (FRLA), together with the National Restaurant Association and 11 other state hospitality associations, signed a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin asking for guidance and what they called an “orderly runway” for employers now scrambling to understand their obligations.

The letter stated that many affected employees are essential, long-serving, legally authorized workers, and that losing them could swiftly remove a significant portion of the hospitality workforce in states with large Haitian TPS populations.

The coalition — representing Florida and 11 other states — is asking the administration for three specific things: a 90-to-120-day transition period before work authorizations are terminated; clear guidance and timelines for reverification and E-Verify requirements; and good-faith protection for employers while they await updated federal instructions.

As of this writing, there was no immediate indication that Secretary Mullin’s agency had responded to the request.

The numbers Florida’s hospitality leaders are citing are substantial.
The Supreme Court’s June 25 ruling in Mullin v. Doe affects more than 93,000 TPS holders who have built their lives in Florida — many of them working in restaurants, hotels, and the broader tourism economy.

FRLA President and CEO Carol Dover put a dollar figure on their contribution.  “The Supreme Court’s decision has significant implications for the more than 93,000 Temporary Protected Status holders who have built their lives in Florida, as well as for the hospitality and tourism businesses and communities that rely on their contributions,”</cite> Dover said in a statement. She estimated that TPS holders contribute approximately $2.6 billion annually to Florida’s economy.

Dover described the request as essential during peak tourist season, stressing the need for clarity, guidance, and a reasonable transition to help employers comply with federal requirements while minimizing disruption for employees, business operations, and communities.

Republican Congressman Carlos Giménez of Miami called ending TPS for Haitians a mistake, stating TPS is meant to protect people from failed states like Haiti and Venezuela when justified.

State Rep. Dotie Joseph, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, criticized policies targeting this workforce, arguing that all key industries, including tourism, agriculture, and health care, depend on these workers, who are also community members.

Two members of Congress are pressing a legislative response. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida and Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts are advancing legislation that would allow federal district courts to review executive branch decisions terminating immigrant protection status; currently, the Supreme Court has ruled that such authority does not exist. Moulton’s bill, the TPS Relief Act (H.R. 9523), would specifically allow courts to review these decisions before removals could proceed. The bill was introduced on June 29 and referred to the House Judiciary Committee for further consideration.

But as CBS12 reported, executive actions to expel those losing TPS are more likely to occur before any legislation gains traction. In the meantime, immigration lawyers are advising employer clients to be proactive in assessing the employment authorization status of their foreign-born workers, evaluating each employee individually, since many who now hold TPS may also have separate pathways to remain in the country. The government has extended the expiration date of TPS employment authorization documents to July 10, 2026.

Temporary Protected Status was enacted by Congress in 1990, allowing the federal government to grant temporary refuge to citizens of countries destabilized by natural disaster, war, or other extraordinary conditions. The designations for Haiti and Syria were both made under the Obama administration. For Haiti, it came after the catastrophic 2010 earthquake that killed more than 300,000 people. For Syria, it came in 2012, a year into that country’s devastating civil war.

Sixteen years after Haiti’s designation, the conditions that produced it have not been resolved. Haiti today is a country where armed gangs control an estimated 90 percent of the capital, where the U.S. State Department warns Americans not to travel, and where the fundamental question TPS was designed to answer — is it safe to send these people home? — still answers itself.

For the Haitian diaspora, the Florida hospitality industry’s plea is a striking development. It is one thing for advocates and community leaders to argue that Haitian TPS holders deserve to stay. It is another for the restaurants, hotels, and tourism businesses at the center of Florida’s economy to tell the federal government, in writing, that these workers are indispensable and that their sudden removal would cause real economic damage.

Florida’s employers echo the Haitian community’s view: these are not temporary workers, but long-serving, legally authorized contributors. As the July 10 deadline approaches, hundreds of thousands of Haitian families remain in limbo amid pending administrative and legislative action.