Haitian Diaspora: Efforts Intensify to Protect Haitian Families from Mass Deportation

After months of organizing, the House will be forced to vote in mid-April on legislation to extend TPS, while the Supreme Court prepares to hear oral arguments in the Haiti and Syria TPS cases on April 29.

Efforts to protect Haitian families from mass deportation are gaining momentum—driven by sustained organizing from Haitian diaspora organizations, religious leaders, and people of faith across the country.

A major breakthrough came when 218 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives — including four Republicans — signed Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s discharge petition to force a vote on extending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for more than 350,000 Haitian families. The House is expected to vote in mid-April.

This did not happen on its own. It reflects months of organizing—calls, visits, and persistent outreach by diaspora organizations, clergy, and community leaders from Boston to Miami to New York. We’re deeply grateful for Congresswoman Pressley’s unflagging leadership and to our partners, including FAMN, NHAEON, Haitian Bridge Alliance, ABIC, the National TPS Alliance, UNITE HERE!, IJDH, and Quixote Center, whose organizing and leadership have been central to this progress.

At the same time, the stakes are rising. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on April 29 in a case involving TPS protections for Haiti and Syria. In response, Faith in Action is helping organize an amicus brief from Haitian clergy and faith-based organizations to bring the moral stakes into the case.

Without TPS, hundreds of thousands of Haitian families could be forced to leave the United States—separating families and returning people to a country facing widespread violence, political instability, and a deep humanitarian crisis.

The impact would not stop there. In Haiti, grassroots leaders are working to stabilize and improve daily life—especially in the North and Northeast, where communities are organizing to strengthen agriculture and local economies. Mass deportations would further destabilize Haiti and put additional strain on these efforts at a critical moment.

The House vote is not yet taken. The Supreme Court has not yet ruled. But this moment shows what sustained organizing can make possible—and why continued action is essential.

Take Action

• Contact your Member of Congress and urge them to support extending TPS for Haiti
• Share this story with your community
• Support grassroots organizing in Haiti and across the diaspora