U.S. Senate Representative Ed Marken said it is “absolutely imperative” that U.S. authorities grant a new extension of the Temporary Protection Program (TPS) for Haitian nationals, citing the chaos that has been unfolding in Haiti. TPS is set to expire in February 2023.
“It’s total chaos in Haiti, people are fleeing because of the terrible conditions there, uh, and we need to make sure that those who are on TPS don’t have to worry that in February of next year it’s going to end all of a sudden,” Markey said in an exclusive interview with ZoomHaitiNews and Caribbean Television Network.
The prominent Massachusetts senator says he is working hard with other colleagues to get the TPS extended.
“I have organized with other members of the Senate and the House of Representatives an effort to extend the period of time that Haitian migrants can stay in the United States. This is a crisis in Haiti. So we made it very clear to the White House that we need an extension for all those who were here before July 2021 and we need a waiver, we need a program that we put in place for migrants who left after July 2021, these people are also in desperate situations, otherwise they wouldn’t have fled their home country,” pleads Ed Markey.
The Massachusetts Senator says he is determined to continue to put pressure on the Biden administration to realize “that it is absolutely essential to respond to the human suffering of the Haitian people, not only here in the United States, but also to those who are left behind. Markey is demanding that Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration appoint a new special envoy to Haiti to ensure that the U.S. can address all of the issues that are driving Haitian migrants from their country.
Ed Markey opposes sending Haitian migrants to Guantanamo
Officially extended on August 3, 2021 for a period of 18 months, the TPS expires on February 3, 2023. This new designation gave all Haitian nationals present on U.S. soil as of May 21, 2021 the opportunity to apply for this status.
While U.S. officials and organizations in the U.S. are advocating for a new extension of TPS, reports in the U.S. media have suggested that the Biden administration is evaluating various options to deal with a massive exodus of Haitian migrants from Haiti and other countries in the region. It is reportedly considering temporarily detaining the migrants in a third country or in a facility at the Guantánamo Bay camp.
It would be a mistake to send immigrants to Guantánamo, which has a bad history, said Senator Ed Markey. “We need to give people the opportunity to stay here in the United States, to have the protection of our government, to not have to worry about them being sent back to Haiti or centered at Guantanamo. We need to have a humane policy in place that protects these people because they are leaving because of conditions, earthquakes, a civil crisis that is beyond them and that they need,” argued the Massachusetts representative in the U.S. Senate.