Haitian nationals who have been protected from deportation from the U.S. for more than seven years since an earthquake struck their homeland won one more temporary reprieve Monday: The Department of Homeland Security announced that it will extend the benefit, which expires on July 22, for another six months.
But even though DHS Secretary John Kelly did not terminate the program as one of his top officials had recommended, the 58,706 Haitians currently enrolled in the Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, program should begin to get their affairs in order for their eventual return to Haiti, officials said Monday.
“This six-month extension should allow Haitian TPS recipients living in the United States time to attain travel documents and make other necessary arrangements for their ultimate departure from the United States, and should also provide the Haitian government with the time it needs to prepare for the future repatriation of all current TPS recipients,” Kelly said. “We plan to continue to work closely with the Haitian government, including assisting the government in proactively providing travel documents for its citizens.”
Kelly said he decided to offer the extension after careful review of the current conditions in Haiti and conversations with the Haitian government.
Read more at our news partner, the Miami Herald.
